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Jonathan Broxton closed out the Phillies in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

By Tim Kurkjian, ESPN The Magazine

As we go deeper and deeper into the postseason, each team will begin to reveal its unsung heroes. Every team has that one under-the-radar player who comes up big when it counts, and I'm picking one for each team in the postseason:

Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels, shortstop

Angels' third baseman Chone Figgins told me Thursday that no one outside of L.A. has any idea how good a player Erick Aybar is. Even though he's a relatively little guy, Aybar, Figgins said, is actually very strong.

Plus, Angels manager Mike Scioscia has been raving most of the year about Aybar's tremendous range at shortstop as a Gold Glove-caliber defender. Remember, it was his two-run triple off of Josh Beckett that helped the Angels win the second game of their ALDS. Torii Hunter told me Thursday that the Angels are the most athletic team that he's ever been on. Certainly Aybar is one of those really good athletes.

Phil Hughes, New York Yankees, set-up man

Everyone knows Phil Hughes' story, but you tend to get lost a little bit in that Yankees' bullpen when it includes the greatest closer of all-time in Mariano Rivera. All of the great Yankees teams from the mid-90s to today have had a terrific set-up man to get the ball to the closer.

Now, that set-up guy is Hughes. New York's bullpen was solidified this year when they put Hughes in the eighth-inning role, and he has responded with tremendous work. The one thing we know about the postseason is you can't win without a good bullpen, and that includes a great set-up man such as Hughes.

Jayson Werth, Philadelphia Phillies, right fielder

Jayson Werth is one of the four Phillies who hit 30 home runs this year, but a lot more attention is paid to the three left-handed hitters who hit 30 homers (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez), since the Phillies are the first team to have three left-handed batters hit 30 homers in a season since 1929.

Werth can really play the outfield and steal a base. He will be extremely important, considering the Dodgers have lefties in both the rotation (Clayton Kershaw and Randy Wolf) and the bullpen (George Sherrill and Hong-Chih Kuo). So, the Phillies are really going to need that right-handed compliment to the left-handed hitters, and that guy is Werth.

Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers, closer

Technically, it's impossible to be under-the-radar as a closer, but in this postseason we really haven't seen Jonathan Broxton completely tested in this role. There's no doubt that he has the stuff for this job. He throws 100 mph, and he had the lowest opponent batting average against (.165) this year of any pitcher in baseball with his number of innings (76).

But even when the Dodgers swept through the Cardinals, we didn't see Broxton having to protect one-run leads or anything else. Broxton proved what should be a clear point by shutting down the Phillies in the ninth inning in Game 2: He's a big-time closer. The Dodgers have the best bullpen in the NL, the lowest ERA, the lowest WHIP, and only the Yankees' bullpen has more wins this year than the Dodgers' bullpen. And guess who is right in the middle of all of that? Jonathan Broxton.

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PLAYOFF WATCH: SATURDAY'S MATCHUP

Angels at Yankees, 7:57 p.m. ET, ESPN Radio

Will the weather cooperate two days in a row? If so, A.J. Burnett takes the mound for the Yankees against Joe Saunders. Saunders enters on a roll; he has not lost since Aug. 1, going 7-0 in nine starts. One of those wins was a Sept. 21 victory against the Yankees -- though that game was in Anaheim, not in the cold surroundings at Yankee Stadium. Burnett also recently faced the Angels, beating them by pitching 5 2/3 steady, if unspectacular, innings Sept. 23 in a 3-2 Yankees win.

For the rest of the playoff schedule, click here.