To say the 2017 World Series has been an insane spectacle may be putting it lightly.
Throughout the tense battle, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros have continued to set offensive records - scoring 58 runs in five games - but there have been players on both sides who've missed out on the fireworks.
Here's four who are looking to turn the page in L.A.
Justin Turner
Without Turner, the Dodgers might not even be here. That needs to be said, because his postseason performances leading up to the World Series were borderline superhuman. In eight games across the NL Division and Championship series, he went 12-for-31 with three home runs, 12 RBIs, and six walks. Amazing.
Turner's enjoyed less success against the Astros, though, batting .150/.261/.400 with one home run and two RBIs in the first five games of Fall Classic.
At least he's drawn a trio of walks in the process, and his lone homer gave the Dodgers the lead for good in Game 1, so he's been timely if not prolific.
Even though Turner may not be operating at full strength, the Dodgers would certainly welcome an encore of his NLCS performance as they try to stave off elimination in Game 6.
Austin Barnes
Barnes emerged as a hard-hitting backstop in 2017, smacking eight home runs in 102 regular-season games. His bat has gone limp in the World Series, however, as he's hitting .188/.222/.250 over 16 at-bats. He's driven in a pair, but has yet to go deep.
Barnes has usurped Yasmani Grandal's playing time behind the dish for the most part. Grandal is 0-for-3 in the series, and his role doesn't look like it will expand, so Barnes will have to come through to make the decision seem worthwhile.
Josh Reddick
Reddick has struggled throughout the playoffs, but it's reached a new point in the World Series. He's the only player on either team with 10 or more at-bats who hasn't driven in a run.
Part of this can be chalked up to the Dodgers deploying some elite left-handed pitchers who've exposed Reddick's limitations. While Reddick had an outstanding season against southpaws (.315 batting average), he's hit only .229 against them for his career.
In the two highest-scoring games of the series, Reddick went a combined 1-for-9 with one run scored. The only positive is he's only struck out three times in five games. Contact is there; it just hasn't yielded results.
Marwin Gonzalez
Gonzalez pretty much gets a pass because of his game-tying solo blast off Kenley Jansen in Game 2. If the Astros win the World Series, he won't be remembered for batting .118/.250/.294, but instead for that monster home run.
But if the Dodgers come back and Gonzalez doesn't find his swing, he may wind up being the primary target for those reminiscing about what might have been.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)
