Evan Longoria Poised For Historic, Long-Awaited Return to LCS With Arizona Diamondbacks

Over a decade after he made the ALCS with the Tampa Bay Rays, third baseman Evan Longoria has reached the NLCS with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Arizona Diamondbacks officially unveiled their roster for the NLCS on Monday, marking quite the achievement for veteran third baseman Evan Longoria.

Longoria is one of the seven infielders who will be available for Arizona in the best-of-seven series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He will be playing in a League Championship Series for the first time since 2008, when he led the Tampa Bay Rays to the American League pennant as a rookie.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Longoria is now the fourth player – and the first non-pitcher – ever to appear in an LCS 15-plus years after his prior appearance.

Bartolo Colon has the record with 17 years between LCS outings, making it with the Cleveland Indians in 1998 and the New York Mets in 2015. Chuck Finley reached the round with the California Angels in 1986 and St. Louis Cardinals in 2002, while Dennis Martinez made it with the Baltimore Orioles in 1979 and the Indians in 1995.

Evan Longoria is back in the LCS for the 1st time since 2008

he'll be the 4th player, 1st non-P, to appear in a LCS 15+ years after his prior app, joining:

2015 NYM Bartolo Colon: 17 years after ’98 CLE
2002 STL Chuck Finley: 16 (’86 CAL)
1995 CLE Dennis Martinez: 16 (’79 BAL) https://t.co/B0rR6hsin4

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 16, 2023

Longoria has been on quite the journey since he spearheaded the Rays' lineup as a 22-year-old rookie. He played 10 seasons in Tampa Bay before leaving to join the San Francisco Giants.

After five years in the Bay, Longoria switched NL West allegiances by signing with the Diamondbacks last winter.

Longoria was once a pinnacle of health and availability as a member of the Rays, routinely playing in over 150 games a year. That trend started to fade when he moved west, though, and he has only appeared in an average of 81 games a season over the past three campaigns.

Across 16 years and nearly 2,000 regular season games, Longoria has racked up 1,930 hits, 342 home runs, 1,159 RBI and a 58.6 WAR. The third baseman is a career .264 hitter with an .804 OPS.

Longoria hit .223 with a .717 OPS in 2023, blasting 11 homers with 28 RBI.

The 38-year-old Longoria has started all five of the Diamondbacks' playoff games thus far, even bouncing back from a brief injury scare in Game 2 of the NLDS to return to the lineup two days later.

Prior to this October, Longoria's teams had fallen victim to five consecutive series losses, dating all the way back to the 2008 World Series against the Phillies. Arizona made quick work of the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers over the past few weeks, however, and the club stands at 5-0 this postseason despite barely snagging a Wild Card berth at 84-78.

Game 1 of the NLCS is scheduled to get underway at 8:07 p.m. ET. Longoria is starting at third base and batting eighth in the Diamondbacks' lineup.

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