In the span of 14 pitches, Rays starter Shane McClanahan surrendered a three-run home run, a single, a double and another single across four full at-bats. In the span of a different 14 pitches, Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez went from an 0-2 count to a 3-2 count on Austin Meadows.
That's right — the full plate appearance, which went for 17 pitches all-in-all, was comprised of three foul balls to start, three balls next, and then a whopping ten foul balls before Meadows finally went down on strikes.
According to MLB's stat guru Sarah Langs, Meadows' plate appearance featured the most pitches in postseason history since 1988, which was when data on pitch counts began. Johnny Damon came up one pitch short of that in 2004, which gave him 16 pitches for the previous record.
The all-time record, including the regular season, belongs to Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, who went for an incredible 21 pitches but also ended up getting out.
What flew under the radar, however, was when Mets utility infielder Luis Guillorme drew a 22-pitch at-bat in spring training prior to 2021.
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