2011 MLB Playoff Bracket: Ranking The Top 5 Players In The 2011 Postseason

The best part of the postseason in any sport is the star power involved.

Gone are the doormats with a glorified Triple-A club. Gone are guys like Matt Kemp, Joey Votto and Troy Tulowitzki that don’t have the necessary help around them. They will be watching just like the rest of us.

It’s time for the stars to shine and remind us why their one-year salaries take us 10-15 years to acquire.

Here are the top five most talented players in this year’s postseason: 

5. Josh Hamilton—Texas Rangers

He may have trouble with injuries, but that doesn’t matter now.

His raw power is second-to-none in baseball and he also possesses a cannon for an arm that makes it extremely hard to collect extra bases on.

In an injury-plagued year he still hit .298 with 25 homers and 94 RBI. Hamilton didn’t have a ton of success in the playoffs last year making contact (.190 average) but he did have five home runs and nine RBI.

Expect Hamilton to be a nightmare for opposing pitchers with a year of postseason experience under his belt. 

4. Ryan Braun—Milwaukee Brewers

Braun was a cheap bunt single away from getting a batting title and has the all around run production (33 HR, 111 RBI) to give opposing pitchers nightmares.

He’s a MVP candidate and is the deadliest hitter in a very potent Brewers lineup. Braun is a guy that can single handedly put a team on his back and carry them through multiple rounds of the playoffs.

3. Justin Verlander—Detroit Tigers

The potential Cy Young winner has notched 24 victories and it could be argued that Verlander's just completed the best regular season for a pitcher in the last decade. His final stats: 24-5, 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP.

He was the best pitcher in baseball this season and would have a higher place on this list if he didn’t sport a 1-2 record with a 5.82 ERA and 1.66 in four career playoff appearances. 

2. Roy Halladay—Philadelphia Phillies

It took him the majority of his career to reach the playoffs, but boy did he ever make up for lost time.

In his first ever playoff game, he threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds last year. It was one of the more legendary performances in postseason history.

He enters the playoffs in 2011 after posting a 19-6 record with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. 

There is no reason to believe he won’t be putting up similar numbers against the rest of the postseason field.

1. Albert Pujols—St. Louis Cardinals

His nickname isn’t “The King” for nothing.

The 32-year-old Pujols is coming off the worst year of his career.

But the term “worst” must be taken with a grain of salt considering he put up this statline:  .299 average, 37 homers and 99 RBI.

So obviously there is nothing to worry about.

He has one last chance to show teams why he’s worth a $300M deal over 10-years, Pujols is going to be as focused as ever. Remember when Carols Beltran was playing for a new deal?

With dollar signs dancing through his head, anticipate an epic postseason for Pujols.