2022 NL King Cobra Wildcard MVP: New Orleans v. St. Louis

...Will Meyer, 2B, New Orleans.

Similar to the AL pick, in that it reflects late inning dramatics from Game 2 of a 2-game-sweep.

In Game 1, the 33-year-old Myer (a former SeaWolf) was a decent contributor, going 1-3 with 2 RBI in a 6-2 Dukes win. In Game 2, the Dukes were trailing 6-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth. St. Louis's closer retired the first two batters, and so now the Dukes were down to their final out. Things looked very bleak. Trailing by 3 with 2 outs in the 9th... I bet their winning percentage was under 5%.

But then, a rally: a single, followed by a walk, followed by a hit by pitch, followed by another walk to force in a run. So now it's 6-4, 2 outs, bases loaded. Walt Wolf is scheduled to bat, but the Dukes pinch hit with Myer, who had been sitting because he doesn't start against lefties. Myer drives a 1-1 pitch to deep left center, and it lands. The runner from 3rd scores, the runner from 2nd scored, and it's tied. The speedy Henry Melton (7-9-10 baserunning ratings) had been on first, and he's going to try to come all the way around... which he does. Myer wins the game with a bases clearing double, sending the Dukes on to the next round.

Incidentally, if you are St. Louis in that situation, you absolutely cannot give up a deep double. You need to be playing a "no doubles" defense, with outfielders basically starting at the wall. There's a tradeoff in doing so, yes: if the Dukes get a single, the tying run almost certainly scores from 2nd, whereas if your OF is in you might prevent that. But the tradeoff is worth it--you can't lose on a double. Gotta place some blame on Savages' manager Jeffery Taylor, who was in his first year as a manager at any level this season, after being Las Vegas' bench coach for 6 years.