Five insane stats that sum up Andrew Miller's dominant postseason

The 2016 Major League Baseball postseason has been all about bullpen usage, and no reliever has been better than Andrew Miller of the Cleveland Indians. Behind Miller’s dominance, the Indians have taken a surprising 2-0 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.

Miller’s performance has been impressive for a number of reasons. It goes beyond what Miller has been able to accomplish on the mound. His willingness to pitch in any inning has made him a true relief ace for manager Terry Francona. On top of that, his ability to go multiple innings and then somehow still be available each night has bordered on superhuman.

Don’t just take our word for it, though. Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez has some experience in the postseason, and he likes what he sees from Miller right now.

That’s pretty high praise. Martinez has seen Mariano Rivera pitch in October, and that guy was pretty good.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five insane stats that sum up just how dominant Miller has been this postseason.

This seems like a good place to start. As we all know, Miller is a reliever. He has no business being second in strikeouts during the postseason. That list should be dominated by starting pitchers.

That not only sums up his excellence on the mound, but gives you an idea of Miller’s workhorse tendencies the past few games. His willingness to go out there for multiple innings each night has definitely pushed him up the strikeout list. His stamina has been incredible.

Let’s take a closer look at how Miller has been able to get it done. In the ALCS, he’s been completely lights out. In Game 1 of the series, all five of the outs Miller recorded came via the strikeout. He nearly did the same thing in Game 2. Miller struck out the side in the seventh, and then struck out Darwin Barney to start the eighth. Ezequiel Carrera finally broke that streak, grounding out to second with one out in the inning.

The above tweet was actually sent before the eighth, so Miller’s first nine outs in the ALCS all came via the strikeout. Following Carrera’s groundout, struck out Josh Donaldson to end the inning. That was probably just the start of a brand new streak.

That about sums up how awesome Miller has been in the first two games of the series. No reliever in history has entered consecutive postseason games and struck out five-plus hitters.

Turns out, five is the magic number for Miller this October.

We’re only two games into the ALCS, and Miller is already flirting with history. Given how well he’s pitched thus far, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Miller pick up the record before the end of the series. And if the Indians somehow reach the World Series, we wonder if Miller would somehow have an even longer leash. Would Terry Francona actually let him throw 60 pitches in a single appearance? It seems crazy, but it’s within the realm of possibilities, right?

Here’s the thing, postseason dominance is nothing new for Miller. Sure, he’s been exceptional this October, but he was also great in his two other appearances in the postseason. Back in 2014, Miller tossed 7 1/3 strong innings with the Baltimore Orioles. He gave up just one hit and struck out eight.

Miller only received an inning of work during the 2015 wild-card game with the New York Yankees, but he didn’t disappoint. Miller tossed a perfect frame, striking out two.

Combine those appearances with his 2016 numbers, and you get one of the best relievers we’ve seen in recent postseason history. The scary thing is, Miller is guaranteed at least four more games to add to those numbers this year.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik