There is always one player who steals the show during the MLB playoffs, whether it's for his on-field performance, off-field personality, a storyline surrounding his season or something else entirely.

Case in point, regardless of how the 2021 World Series plays out, it feels like Atlanta outfielder Joc Pederson, with his pearls, celebratory wine and big hits, is going to be the player we remember from this postseason.

So who fits the bill from other recent postseason runs?

Last year, the talk of baseball in October was out-of-nowhere rookie Randy Arozarena, and starting with him, we walked back through the last 10 years of postseason history and selected the signature star of each playoff run.

Enjoy!

2020: Randy Arozarena

Corey Seager took home NLCS and World Series MVP honors with a huge performance at the plate for the Fall Classic champion Los Angeles Dodgers last year, but he wasn't the most talked about player of the 2021 postseason.

That title undoubtedly belongs to Tampa Bay Rays rookie Randy Arozarena.

Arozarena, who turned 26 in February, played in just 23 games for the Rays during the 2020 regular season, quietly hitting .288/.377/.678 with seven home runs in 69 plate appearances during the month of September.

He finished the year playing everyday and shuffling around the top three spots in the batting order. Despite that, he was still largely unknown on the national landscape, but that would soon change.

After going 4-for-8 with three extra-base hits in the Wild Card Series, he continued to rake all postseason. All told, he hit .377/.442/.831 in 86 plate appearances while setting the single postseason records for hits (29), home runs (10) and total bases (64).

The Dodgers won the title, but it was Arozarena who became a household name.   

2019: Juan Soto

There's a strong case to be made for World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg or veteran Howie Kendrick as the signature stars of the 2019 postseason, but youth made Juan Soto the biggest national story.

In his second season in the majors, Soto emerged as a bona fide superstar, hitting .282/.401/.548 with 32 doubles, 34 home runs, 110 RBI, 110 runs scored and 108 walks in a 5.0 WAR season to finish ninth in NL MVP voting.

Those are impressive numbers without context, and they were made exponentially more impressive by the fact that he was only 20 years old.

His home run in Game 1 of the World Series made him the second-youngest player in MLB history to homer in his first game in the Fall Classic, behind only Atlanta outfielder Andruw Jones.

Soto turned 21 on the day of Game 3 of the World Series, and his mid-series birthday made his age even more of a story.    

2018: Nathan Eovaldi

The Boston Red Sox acquired Nathan Eovaldi from the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2018 trade deadline in exchange for pitching prospect Jalen Beeks, hoping to solidify the starting rotation behind the lefty duo of Chris Sale and David Price.

He made 11 starts following the trade and posted a terrific 3.33 ERA in 54 innings, cementing his place as the No. 3 starter in the postseason rotation.

He was terrific in Game 3 of the ALDS (W, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) and Game 3 of the ALCS (W, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER), but it was his impact as a reliever later in the postseason that made him the story of Boston's playoff run.

Eovaldi, then 28, returned on one day's rest in Game 5 of the ALCS, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings to protect a 4-1 lead and bridge the gap to closer Craig Kimbrel. The Red Sox then made the bold decision to use him exclusively as a reliever in the World Series, and it paid dividends.

He tossed a scoreless eighth inning in Game 1 and Game 2 victories and then pitched six innings of relief in the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3. He took the loss in that game, allowing three hits and two runs in a pseudo start. But he saved the Boston bullpen, and the Red Sox took the next two games to close out the series.

That performance earned him a four-year, $68 million contract during the offseason, and he was an All-Star for the first time in 2021 in the third year of that deal.      

2017: Justin Verlander

In one of the biggest August waiver trades in MLB history, the Houston Astros acquired Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for prospects Daz Cameron, Franklin Perez, Jake Rogers and Juan Ramirez on Aug. 31, 2017.

It was the move that pushed them over the top.

The future Hall of Famer went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and 43 strikeouts in 34 innings over five starts following the trade, and he was on the mound for Game 1 of the ALDS to start Houston's run to a World Series title.

Verlander, then 34, started five games and made one 2.2-inning relief appearance in Game 4 of the ALDS against Boston, and he finished 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 38 strikeouts in 36.2 innings. He went at least six innings in each of his starts, and threw a complete game against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the ALCS when he racked up 13 strikeouts.

The storyline surrounding the 2017 World Series, with the cheating scandal, has shifted in the years since the Astros won Game 7 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but at the time, Verlander's late-season success and continued dominance into October was the story.   

2016: David Ross

It's not every day a backup catcher is carried off the field after his team wins the World Series. Then again, David Ross was not your average backup catcher.

The veteran leader of a young Chicago Cubs team, Ross was beloved by his teammates and fans alike during his time as Jon Lester's personal catcher and the backup to Willson Contreras and Miguel Montero.

Ross, then 39, hit .229/.338/.446 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI in 205 plate appearances during the regular season, and he was the starter for each of Lester's five postseason starts in 2016, as well as Game 4 of the NLDS when John Lackey was on the mound.

He homered in the NLDS, but his storybook moment came in the thrilling Game 7 of the World Series.

After entering the contest in the bottom of the fifth in a double switch, he homered off Cleveland's relief ace Andrew Miller in the top of the sixth to give the Cubs a 6-3 lead.

That run proved to be crucial when Cleveland plated three runs against Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning to send the game to extras, and it was a fitting end to an unforgettable final season for the veteran catcher.

When the World Series wrapped, Ross went on to appear on Saturday Night Live and Dancing With the Stars, as he was very much the face of the team, despite his limited role.   

2015: Daniel Murphy

The Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series title behind a better-than-expected starting rotation, timely clutch hitting and a lights-out bullpen that was led by Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Luke Hochevar.

However, the biggest story of the 2015 postseason was a one-man wrecking crew named Daniel Murphy.

After hitting 14 home runs in 538 plate appearances during the regular season—a new career-high for the then-30-year-old infielder—he found his power stroke in a big way in October.

He hit a solo home run in Game 1 of the NLDS and then went deep again in Game 4 and Game 5 as the Mets advanced past the Dodgers to square off against the Cubs in the NLCS.

The homers just kept coming from there, and by the time the Mets wrapped up a four-game sweep of the Cubs in the NLCS, he had set a new MLB postseason record with a long ball in six straight games.

For as much damage as he did in the first two rounds that year, his silence in the World Series was an equally big story. He went just 3-for-20 with zero extra-base hits and seven strikeouts against the Royals pitching staff, and cooling him off was a big key to success for Kansas City.      

2014: Madison Bumgarner

Few players in baseball history have put a team on their back the way Madison Bumgarner did during the 2014 postseason.

With an 88-74 record, the San Francisco Giants finished second in the NL West standings and had to travel to Pittsburgh for the NL Wild Card Game. Bumgarner took the ball in the winner-take-all game and twirled a four-hit shutout, walking one and striking out 10 to advance the Giants on to the NLDS.

He was a tough-luck loser in Game 3 of the NLDS, but the Giants still advanced, and he was the winner in Game 1 of the NLCS and took a no-decision with eight strong innings that paved the way for a win in Game 5 of the series.

On to the World Series, he had strong start in Game 1 (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) and tossed an absolute gem in Game 5 (9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER) before returning on two days rest in Game 7 to pitch the final five innings of a 3-2 game for the series-clinching save.

When the dust cleared, Bumgarner had worked an absurd 52.2 innings during the 2014 playoffs. He went 4-1 with a 1.03 ERA and a .153 opponents batting average, and his Game 7 relief effort goes down as an all-time great October performance.      

2013: David Ortiz

By 2013, David Ortiz was a 37-year-old veteran who had already etched his name in postseason lore thanks to his heroics during the Red Sox's comeback ALCS win in 2004.

Despite his age, he was still one of baseball's most feared sluggers. During the regular season, he hit .309/.395/.564 with 38 doubles, 30 home runs and 103 RBI to win his sixth Silver Slugger Award and finish 10th in AL MVP balloting.

The Red Sox led the majors in runs scored during the regular season. But it was more a well-balanced lineup than a collection of superstars, and Ortiz was by far the most dangerous bat in the lineup.

After homering twice in the team's ALDS series win over the Rays, Ortiz scuffled in the ALCS. He went just 2-for-22 but provided perhaps the most memorable moment of the entire 2013 postseason when he hit a game-tying grand slam in the eighth inning of Game 2.

The image of Detroit Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter's legs in the air as he flipped over the right field fence and the Fenway Park security guard in the background raising his arms remains the indelible image of that postseason.

After his struggles in the ALCS, Ortiz was automatic in the World Series, going 11-for-16 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI to claim MVP honors.

2012: Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum was squarely in the conversation of best pitcher in baseball in 2008 and 2009 when he won back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards.

He was the ace of the staff for the Giants' unlikely World Series title in 2010, but he was a very different pitcher two years later when the team returned to the postseason.

After struggling to a 5.18 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 186 innings during the regular season, Lincecum was relegated to bullpen work with Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong handling starting duties during the NLDS.

Rather than complain, Lincecum took to his new role with aplomb, working 6.1 innings over a pair of relief appearances in the NLDS and allowing just one run while striking out eight. He was the winning pitcher in Game 4 with 4.1 innings of work behind starter Barry Zito.

He threw two more scoreless innings in Game 1 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, which was enough for him to get the nod to start Game 4. He allowed six hits and four earned runs to take the loss in his return to the rotation, but that didn't shake his confidence.

Back in the bullpen in the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, he was brilliant in Game 1 (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K) and equally effective in Game 3 (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) to play his part in delivering a title.

A pitcher who had recently been one of the best in the game adapting to a new role on the fly in October and thriving made for a headline-grabbing story.     

2011: David Freese

In a St. Louis lineup that featured Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Allen Craig and Yadier Molina, it was relatively unknown third baseman David Freese who stole the show.

In the midst of a breakout season, Freese missed 51 games when he suffered a broken hand at the beginning of May. He returned in late June and hit .276/.335/.431 with eight home runs and 41 RBI in 269 plate appearances the rest of the way.

After a forgettable NLDS performance, he homered in Game 1 and Game 2 of the NLCS and finished the series 12-for-22 with three doubles, three home runs and nine RBI to take home MVP honors, leading the Cardinals to a World Series matchup with the Texas Rangers.

He was just getting started.

With the Cardinals down to their final strike in Game 6, Freese delivered a game-tying, two-run triple over the head of Nelson Cruz. Two innings later, he hit a walk-off home run, forcing a decisive Game 7.

After rescuing the Cardinals from the depth in Game 6, he added a two-run double in the first inning of Game 7 as the Redbirds went on to a 6-2 victory and Freese added another MVP trophy to his collection.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.