Everything is intensified in the postseason -- the emotions, the stakes, the pressure, the national attention. Not all players can handle this atmosphere, but some are destined for glory when the importance of every game is magnified. There is at least one such player on every team that has qualified for this season's playoffs, so here is a rundown of each squad's best postseason performer.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RAYS: Randy Arozarena
Nelson Cruz is an outstanding postseason player in his own right; he has 17 home runs and a 1.019 OPS across 170 career at-bats. But it will be a long time before we forget how Arozarena became a household name in 2020 and dominated October to levels never seen before. After playing in only 23 games during the regular season, he carried the Rays to the World Series with 29 hits, 10 homers and 64 total bases -- setting the record for a single postseason in each category. He was the first rookie position player to earn MVP honors in a League Championship Series and wrapped his historic display with a .377/.442/.831 slash line.

ASTROS: Jose Altuve
You can’t go wrong with Altuve or Carlos Correa here. Each star ranks among the top 10 in career postseason home runs with 18 and 17, respectively. Altuve also sneaks in at No. 10 in career runs (49) and total bases (144). He opened Houston’s 2017 title run with three homers in Game 1 of the ALDS. From that day on, Altuve has logged a .323 average and a 1.009 OPS through 57 playoff games. He was named the 2019 ALCS MVP after launching a series-winning home run off Aroldis Chapman. Altuve owns 25 multihit games, tied for the eighth-most in AL/NL history.

WHITE SOX: Tim Anderson
Chicago has played just three postseason games since 2008, all of which came last year as it lost to Oakland in the AL Wild Card Series. But that defeat wasn’t Anderson’s fault; the White Sox spark plug had three hits in each game, becoming the first player in AL/NL history to start his playoff career by recording nine hits in his first three games. Anderson is one of only two White Sox players to record at least three hits in three postseason games during their career. The other is Shoeless Joe Jackson.

RED SOX: J.D. Martinez
With a nod to Kyle Schwarber for his exploits with the Cubs during the 2015 and 2016 postseasons, Martinez has made a significant impact in each of his three October journeys. He cracked three homers in his first seven playoff games split between the Tigers and the D-backs, and then he was Boston’s most consistent producer during its trek to a World Series title in 2018. He registered a .923 OPS and drove in 14 runs through 14 games that year. He put a final stamp on the Red Sox’s championship with a solo blast off of Clayton Kershaw during the Game 5 clincher. The only caveat here is whether Martinez will be fully healthy for the AL Wild Card Game, after spraining his left ankle in Game 162.

YANKEES: Gerrit Cole
Cole earned himself a lot of money with the help of a dominant showing during the 2019 playoffs with the Astros. He ceded just one earned run through his first 24 1/3 innings, which included seven scoreless frames versus his future team in Game 3 of the ALCS. By October's end, Cole had a 1.72 ERA and 47 strikeouts, tied for the second-most in a single postseason in AL/NL history. His overall results in three playoff starts last season weren’t as sterling, but the Yanks’ $324 million man was still overpowering, with a 40.5 strikeout rate.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

GIANTS: Kris Bryant
One of the main stories of the Giants’ season is how longtime franchise stalwarts such as Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt have all produced prime seasons in their mid-30s. But none of their individual accomplishments in the postseason match up with what one of the newest Giants has done. Bryant slashed .308/.400/.523 in 2016 as a leading man on the Cubs’ curse-breaking championship team. He recorded eight extra-base hits that year -- matching Posey’s career playoff total -- and went 4-for-5 in Game 6 of the Fall Classic.

BREWERS: Lorenzo Cain
Cain collected at least one hit in 20 of his first 24 postseason games between 2014 and 2015 with the Royals. Eight of those hits came during Kansas City’s four-game sweep of the Orioles in the 2014 ALCS, of which Cain was named MVP. He hit .333 during that postseason. Four years later, Cain was one of the Brewers’ leading hitters during their League Championship Series versus the Dodgers, going 10-for-33 at the plate with two hits in each of the final three games of that seven-game clash.

BRAVES: Charlie Morton
If the Braves want to make a deep run in the 2021 playoffs, they will need their starting pitchers to offset the perceived advantages that teams such as the Brewers and Dodgers have on the mound. The good news is Morton has often performed like an ace when the lights are brightest. Game 3 of the 2020 World Series was a rare slip-up for him, but in his five playoff starts preceding that, Morton gave up a total of three earned runs and held opposing batters to a .534 OPS through 25 2/3 innings. He has pitched in a Game 7 three times during his career; he was credited with the win in each of those appearances and posted a matching ERA and WHIP of 0.61 over 14 2/3 innings.

DODGERS: Justin Turner
It stands to reason that the defending champions have the longest list of deserving nominees for this spot. You could go with Max Muncy or Mookie Betts. The MVP of last year’s NLCS and World Series, Corey Seager, is worth considering. Walker Buehler has allowed just six earned runs over his previous eight postseason starts. And then you have Albert Pujols, among the best playoff performers of all time, coming off the bench.

However, Turner has built a sensational body of work in the postseason. He has a slash line of .295/.392/.507 through 268 at-bats and has been at his best in the biggest moments. Only two players have a greater career WPA in the playoffs than Turner: Pujols and David Ortiz. Three of his 12 homers have given L.A. the lead in the sixth inning or later, and no clout provided more value than his walk-off shot to cap Game 2 of the 2017 NLCS versus the Cubs. Turner was ultimately named the MVP of that series.

CARDINALS: Adam Wainwright
Wainwright’s rotation mate Jon Lester could definitely be chosen here, although Cardinals fans might consider it heretical to say that this team’s best postseason performer is someone who did most of his best work for the rival Cubs. Wainwright entered Cardinals playoff lore as a rookie when he snapped off the most famous curveball in franchise history to close out the 2006 NLCS. He notched a save in the clinching game of the World Series eight days later. He had a 2.57 ERA and a 1.73 FIP during the 2013 playoffs as the Cards won the pennant. Then, at the age of 38 in 2019, Wainwright surrendered only three earned runs through 16 2/3 postseason frames.