Seemingly every year, a new group of postseason heroes emerges. Some of them are the ones you never saw coming.

Last year’s playoffs were no exception: Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement became a household name and set the record for most hits (30) in a single postseason, while Dodgers veteran Miguel Rojas hammered one of the most significant home runs in MLB history to tie up World Series Game 7 and lead to an L.A. win.

Which players will emerge from under the radar to shine in the 2026 postseason? We asked seven MLB.com writers to each pick one player, whether it’s a fresh face announcing his presence, a well-traveled veteran breaking out or even an established star shaking off a season-long slump. Here’s who they think could become October legends.

All stats are through Thursday’s games.

, OF, Dodgers

Last offseason’s top free agent, under the radar? That’s what happens when you play on a team full of stars -- and spend much of the season struggling to find your swing. Tucker’s first year in Los Angeles hasn’t gone as well as he might have hoped so far, but the great thing about being on a team like the Dodgers? There’s postseason time ahead.

What better way to rewrite the narrative than a stellar postseason? This isn’t purely a storyline pick, either. Tucker has hit significantly better of late. His .969 OPS since the calendar flipped to September is his best in any month this year and ranks in the top 15 in MLB among players with at least 85 plate appearances this month.

And we know how good Tucker can be when he’s on -- his 144 OPS+ from 2021-25 ranked sixth in MLB, minimum 600 games, behind Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper and Freddie Freeman.

-- Sarah Langs

, RP, Braves

Fuentes wasn’t quite ready for the limelight when he made his big league debut on June 20, 2025, just three days after his 20th birthday. He had a 13.85 ERA in four starts for Atlanta before being optioned back to Triple-A Gwinnett. A year later, Fuentes -- transitioned to a relief role -- has been excellent, posting a 2.24 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 72 1/3 innings and entrenching himself as a back-end option in the Braves bullpen.

It wouldn’t be shocking if postseason baseball overwhelms Fuentes, but the young hurler has all the tools to succeed, including a heavily used four-seam fastball that has surpassed 101 mph and a splitter with strong horizontal movement. Fuentes’ elite strikeout rate makes him a great option out of the ’pen, potentially for multiple innings, for a team whose rotation -- behind Chris Sale and resurgent trade acquisition Tyler Mahle -- has been inconsistent all year.

-- Theo DeRosa

, 1B, Padres

You might know that the Padres have been perhaps the hottest second-half team this year. You might not realize that 32-year-old Ty France, who joined the club on a Minor League contract this spring, has been one of the biggest reasons why. France has had an incredible resurgence this season, with an .869 OPS that would rank just outside the top 10 in MLB if he had just a few more plate appearances. He’s been even better in the second half, with the second-best Padres wRC+ (156), behind only Fernando Tatis Jr.

An All-Star in 2022 and a frequent Gold Glove candidate at first base, France struggled through below-average offense the past two seasons. But he’s having a career year (by a wide margin) in 2026, with the underlying numbers to back it up. He’s making hard contact more than ever, pulling the ball in the air more than the past two years and swinging more than ever -- especially at strikes. France hasn’t had much success in two postseason trips in his career, but this year has all the makings of an October breakout on an intriguing team.

-- Max Ralph

, OF, Rays

If Mesa is the breakout star of the postseason, we’ll look back and say it all started a month earlier. The 25-year-old outfielder came off the injured list on Sept. 1, promptly rapped three hits against the Mets, and has not looked back. In 20 games this month, Mesa is hitting .328 with a .974 OPS. Mesa also offers a different look to a contact-oriented Rays lineup, supplying some much-needed pop -- the sort of power that wins games in October. He has 14 home runs and a .487 slugging percentage that ranks second best on the team (min. 200 PA) behind MVP candidate Junior Caminero.

Is Mesa ready for October? That question would have seemed totally unreasonable in February, back when he was designated for assignment by the Marlins with only 32 big league at-bats to his name. But Mesa is toolsy, athletic and has shown over the past few weeks that he can be a legitimate difference maker, even on the game’s biggest stage.

-- Jared Greenspan

, 1B, Brewers

Performance-wise, Bauers already has broken out -- for the best team in baseball this season. But after years as a journeyman struggling to gain a foothold in the Majors, his national profile hasn’t caught up … yet. Bauers wasn’t an All-Star this year, yet according to FanGraphs, only five Major League hitters have created more value on offense in 2026. Plenty of other Brewers are more famous, but it’s Bauers (re-signed to a Minor League deal in January) who leads the team in OBP (.393), SLG (.491) and home runs (26).

The last of those categories is important, because the Brew Crew, for all their strengths, rank 28th in the Majors in homers. And no matter how much you might love small ball, big flies tend to win games in October. Bauers, who will turn 31 on Oct. 6 (during the NL Division Series), is perhaps the most likely Brewer to strike a big blow.

His bat speed and contact quality are elite, as are his chase and walk rates. Bauers will wait for his pitch and then unleash, and that should serve him well in big moments. (In fact, he hit .316/.350/.684 in limited playoff action for Milwaukee in 2024-25.) If the Brewers finally make that long-awaited World Series run, Bauers could be right in the middle of it.

-- Andrew Simon

, RF, Guardians

It's funny, because this is actually DeLauter's second chance to be a "breakout postseason star" … even though he's a rookie. Remember, his MLB debut was last year during the Wild Card Series. DeLauter got a little bit of attention then, but he didn't actually do much in that series. This postseason is going to be the opposite. DeLauter has shown all year that he can really hit (he has a 129 OPS+), and he's just not going to be an easy out in the playoffs. That herky-jerky lefty swing of his is going to cause pitchers problems.

DeLauter doesn't swing and miss much. He doesn't strike out a lot. He doesn't chase bad pitches. But this isn't a Chandler Simpson-type we're talking about here. DeLauter also hits the ball hard.

It's a very "2025 Blue Jays" October skill set. That makes DeLauter just the type of exciting young player who's not really in the spotlight yet but could really put himself on the map here as a rising star.

-- David Adler

, OF, White Sox

This story writes itself more often than not, right? The inexperienced White Sox, making an ahead-of-schedule return to postseason play, find a rock in one of their few guys who has been there before. ("Been there before" is a relative term -- Grichuk made his last postseason appearance with the Blue Jays in 2020, and his only substantial experience as a starter came with the Cardinals in 2014. He was 23 at the time, wading into the active Cards-Giants postseason rivalry. A lot has changed since then, is the point.)

You can get away with making this kind of prediction about any player of a certain age. Bonus points if he's crossed over into journeyman territory. But this is the role Grichuk has been playing for the White Sox since he arrived as a waiver claim back in May, so there's hardly any speculation involved.

In 98 games in Chicago, he's hitting .304 with a .603 slugging percentage, 21 doubles, two triples and 14 home runs. Manager Will Venable is already using him how he should in October: Primarily as a late-game pinch-hitter and defensive replacement, to be deployed heavily against left-handed pitching. For a team like this, nothing could feel much better than bringing in a ringer off the bench.

-- Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru