Blue Jays' unsung heroes deserve credit for ending 22-year postseason drought

TORONTO – Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will be named American League MVP. Pitcher David Price has a strong case to be the AL Cy Young winner. Both players, along with other superstars like Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, were crucial to the best Blue Jays season in a generation, and a long-awaited postseason appearance.

But baseball is a team game, and over a grueling 162-game season a winning team needs contributions from everyone on the roster. Case in point, in Wednesday's AL East-clinching win over the Orioles while Bautista was hitting his 40th home run of the season, infielder Ryan Goins quiettly became the first Blue Jays shorstop to ever get five hits in a game.

The Blue Jays have a lineup with several household names who, deservedly, are getting a lot of credit for this team’s success. Here are five other players who flew slightly under the radar, but were vital to the team’s first division title since 1993.

Marco Estrada, SP

Estrada entered the season as a question mark – was he a reliever or a starter? He began the season in the bullpen but moved to the rotation on May 5, a move that immediately paid off. He's won 12 games as a starter and has an opponent batting average of .211. He is sneaky second among Blue Jays pitchers in bWAR (3.5) behind David Price, and has earned a spot in the postseason starting rotation.

Key stat: 3.30 ERA as a starter

2015 highlight: Back-to-back no-hit bids in June – Estrada was the first player in 27 years to take no hitters into the eighth inning of back-to-back starts. In his starts on June 19 and 24, he combined to pitch 15.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits with 16 strikeouts.

Kevin Pillar, CF

Pillar wasn’t supposed to be an everyday player in 2015. Before the season began the smart money was on Dalton Pompey starting in centrefield next to Michael Saunders in left, with Pillar as the fourth outfielder, at best. But a poor start by Pompey and an injury to Saunders thrust Pillar into the everyday centrefielder, and he shone. He has played in 156 games, most on the team, and in addition to being a defensive whiz, has contributed 12 home runs, 54 RBIs, and a team-leading 25 steals.

Key stat: 15.7 defensive fWAR, second best in the American League.

2015 highlight: The Catch – Pillar had some big at-bats in August and September, but nothing tops this:

Chris Colabello, UTL

Colabello was a baseball journeyman who didn’t make his major-league debut until he was 29, and didn’t appear in more than 59 games in a single season until this year. But with questions in the Blue Jays outfield early in the year they gave Colabello a chance and he seized the opportunity. He hit .368 in May and had an 18-game hit streak, making it impossible to take him out of the lineup. When things stabilized in the outfield he started seeing time at first base and DH because he was just too good to take out of the lineup.

Key stat: .317/.364/.505 triple slash line.

2015 highlight: Walk-off two-run single on June 7 – His ninth-inning hit to beat the Astros extended his hitting streak to 17 games, and was the fifth win in an 11-game Blue Jays win streak.

Brett Cecil, RP

Cecil began the season as the team’s closer, and while he wasn’t great (five saves, two blown saves, 5.40 ERA) he also lacked the opportunities as the feast-or-famine Jays either won big or lost close. But when Roberto Osuna was named closer and Cecil moved to a setup role, he really started to shine. Since July 1 he’s lowered his ERA to 2.55, has struckout 37 batters in 28 innings, and has an opponent batting average of .153.

Key stat: 35 game (30.1 innings) scoreless streak.

2015 highlight: Struck out the side in eighth inning with tying run aboard in win over Yankees on Sept. 21.

Ryan Goins, 2B

Goins is another player who wasn’t supposed to be an everyday player. Devon Travis won the second-base job out of spring training and early on was having a rookie-of-the-year caliber season before being derailed by injuries. Goins stepped up and while everyone knew he was an elite defender, he swung the bat just as well. Goins' ability to play both second base and shortstop at a high level has made him an invaluable member of the 2015 team.

Key stat: .767 second-half OPS.

2015 highlight: Walk-off home run against the Indians on Sept. 1 – Roberto Osuna blew a save in the ninth but Goins bailed him out with a two-run walk-off homer in the 10th.

*All stats through Wednesday, September 30.

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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at denomme@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter.