Welcome to the annual Postseason Pick the Stick competition!

A massive apology to those who are not online during the morning before the playoffs start today who wanted to participate, with all the uncertainty around the race I had forgotten about running this contest until a few users messaged me this morning. I may run a "World Series Pick the Stick" separately (like I was able to do last year) to make up for it.

How it works:

Each participant will pick nine players for their Pick the Stick Lineup. They will earn points for each hit, stolen base, and walk they get throughout the playoffs, and lose points for getting out. The formula is Points=(TB+BB+SB)-0.5(AB-H+CS). (In longer terms, single = +1 point, double = +2, triple = +3, homer = +4, walk = +1, stolen base = +1, non-sacrifice outs = -1, caught stealing = -1.) Whoever's lineup earns the most points by the end of the world series will win the contest! Tiebreaker will be which user's first listed player scored more points, followed by the second player, and so on down the line until a tie is broken (despite over 3000 submissions over the course of the eight previous competitions, no two users have had the exact same lineup).

REMINDER – There are no points for pitching or defense.

NOTE: While the form does not force you to have nine unique answers, the backend formulas throws out if you have multiples of the same player, so you must pick nine unique players.

Here is the official sign up form.

Quick Notes on Player Picking

• You are eligible to pick any player that has had a plate appearances for a playoff team. (This means there are likely some players you can pick who are not in the playoffs… that's your problem if you pick them.)
• Again, the form does not prevent you from picking 9 Aaron Judges, but you picks will only count 1 of each player you pick, so pick 9 unique players.

Submissions will be accepted until first pitch of the playoffs. Updates will be made periodically throughout the postseason.

As a reminder/example, here are the best possible, and worst possible, pick the stick teams from the previous iterations):

2023 World Series Pick the Stick Perfect Team

• Corey Seager: 11.5 pts
• Tommy Pham: 9.5
• Marcus Semien: 6.5
• Adolis García: 6.5
• Christian Walker: 4.5
• Ketel Marte: 4
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: 4
• Evan Carter: 2.5
• Geraldo Perdomo: 2.5

2022 Postseason Pick the Stick Perfect Team (Best 9 Players)

• Bryce Harper: 34.5
• Kyle Schwarber: 28.5
• Harrison Bader: 19.5
• Jeremy Pena: 19.5
• Alex Bregman: 19
• Manny Machado: 14.5
• Anthony Rizzo: 13
• Freddie Freeman: 11.5
• Matt Olson: 11

2022 Postseason Pick the Stick All Duds Team (Worst 9 Players)

• Michael Harris II: -4.5
• Matt Carpenter: -4.5
• Jose Altuve: -5
• Austin Riley: -5
• Yandy Diaz: -5
• Jarred Kelenic: -6
• Oswaldo Cabrera: -6
• Nick Castellanos: -6.5
• Trey Mancini: -7

2021 Pick the Stick Perfect Team

• Freddie Freeman – ATL 28.5
• Enrique Hernandez – BOS 27.5
• Eddie Rosario – ATL 27
• Yordan Alvarez – HOU 25.5
• Chris Taylor – LAD 25
• Kyle Tucker – HOU 21
• Rafael Devers – BOS 19.5
• JD Martinez – BOS 16.5
• Jose Altuve – HOU 15.5

2021 Pick the Stick All Duds Team

• Donovan Solano – SF -4.0
• Avisail García – MIL -4.5
• Trea Turner – LAD -5.0
• Kolton Wong – MIL -5.0
• Bobby Dalbec – BOS -6.0
• Justin Turner – LAD -6.0
• Mike Yastrzemski – SF -6.5
• Brandon Lowe – TB -9.0
• Martin Maldonado – HOU -12.0

2020 Postseason Pick the Stick Perfect Team

• Arozarena, Randy – TB 48
• Seager, Corey – LAD 41.5
• Altuve, Jose – HOU 31
• Correa, Carlos – HOU 29
• Betts, Mookie – LAD 26
• Muncy, Max – LAD 25.5
• Stanton, Giancarlo – NYY 22
• Brantley, Michael – HOU 20
• Margot, Manuel – TB 18.5

2020 Postseason Pick the Stick All-Duds Team

• Bryant, Kris – CHC -4
• Rizzo, Anthony – CHC -4
• Tsutsugo, Yoshi – TB -5
• Wendle, Joey – TB -5.5
• Reddick, Josh – HOU -5.5
• Wallach, Chad – MIA -5.5
• Lowe, Brandon – TB -6.5
• Gurriel, Yuli – HOU -6.5
• Meadows, Austin – TB -7

2019 Perfect Roster

2019 Worst Possible Roster

The Perfect 2018 Pick the Stick Team (with % of rosters picked on)

• George Springer : 22.5 – 16%
• Steve Pearce : 20.5 – 1%
• J.D. Martinez : 18 – 65%
• Alex Bregman : 17 – 59%
• Aaron Judge : 15.5 – 23%
• Yasiel Puig : 14 – 9%
• Chris Taylor : 13 – 2%
• Max Muncy : 13 – 14%
• Christian Yelich : 12.5 – 77%

The Worst Possible 2018 Pick the Stick Team

• Austin Barnes : -8.5 – 0%
• Johan Camargo : -6.5 – 1%
• David Dahl : -5.5 – 3%
• Andrew McCutchen : -5 – 3%
• Jose Ramirez : -4.5 – 22%
• Ian Desmond : -4.5 – 0%
• Chris Iannetta : -4.5 – 1%
• Cody Bellinger : -4.5 – 9%
• Brian McCann : -4 – 0%

The Perfect 2017 Pick the Stick Team

• Jose Altuve, HOU – 31.5 (picked on 82.4% of rosters, most picked)
• George Springer, HOU – 29.5 (20.4% of rosters)
• Justin Turner, LAD – 21 (33.8% of rosters)
• Carlos Correa, HOU – 19 (41.3% of rosters)
• Chris Taylor, LAD – 18.5 (4.3% of rosters)
• Greg Bird, NYY – 17.5 (2.0% of rosters)
• Yuli Gurriel, HOU – 16 (1.3% of rosters)
• Kiké Hernandez, LAD – 14 (appeared on no rosters)
• Yasiel Puig, LAD – 14 (5.0% of rosters)

The Worst Possible 2017 Pick the Stick Team

• Josh Reddick, HOU – -10 (3.3% of rosters)
• Curtis Granderson, LAD – -6 (1.5% of rosters)
• Chase Utley, LAD – -5.5 (1.0% of rosters)
• Jose Ramirez, CLE – -5 (56.5% of rosters, 2nd most picked)
• Anthony Rizzo, CHC – -5 (23.4% of rosters)
• Brian McCann, HOU – -4 (0.3% of rosters)
• Jon Jay, CHC – -3.5 (0.8% of rosters)
• Starlin Castro, NYY – -3.5 (2.0% of rosters)
• Jason Kipnis, CL – -3 (3.8% of rosters)

The Perfect 2016 Pick the Stick Team

1. Kris Bryant – 21.5 points (picked for 76% of rosters)
2. Anthony Rizzo – 18.5 (64% of rosters)
3. Josh Donaldson – 16.5 (29% of rosters)
4. Justin Turner – 13.5 (18% of rosters)
5. Jayson Werth – 11.5 (1% of rosters)
6. Edwin Encarnacion – 11.5 (16% of rosters)
7. Francisco Lindor – 10.5 (16% of rosters)
8. Coco Crisp – 9.5 (picked for no rosters)
9. Daniel Murphy – 9 (36% of rosters)

The Worst Possible 2016 Pick the Stick Team

1. Jason Heyward – -8.5 (picked for 3% of rosters)
2. Darwin Barney – -6 (picked for no rosters)
3. Russell Martin – -6 (picked for no rosters)
4. Chase Utley – -5.5 (2% of rosters)
5. Albert Almora Jr. – -5 (picked for no rosters)
6. Hunter Pence – -5 (5% of rosters)
7. Devon Travis – -4.5 (7% of rosters)
8. Jonathan Lucroy – -4.5 (4% of rosters)
9. Kevin Pillar – -4.5 (1% of rosters)