Orlando Arcia is on fire for the Brewers; here are five other recent unlikely postseason heroes in Wisconsin sports

Orlando Arcia hit three home runs in the regular season, and by some metrics was among the worst (or plainly the worst) regular offensive player in the National League during the 2018 baseball season.

He now has three home runs in the postseason and has helped Milwaukee take a 2-1 lead in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The playoffs are a strange time, man.

Few playoff triumphs are devoid of surprise moments and standouts, but here's a brief summary of recent notable playoff surprises from Wisconsin sports teams:

James Starks, 2010 Green Bay Packers

It's easy to remember Rodgers, Nelson, Raji and Matthews as the stars of the Packers' most recent run to the Super Bowl, but what about James Starks? After running for just 101 yards total during the regular season, the rookie running back out of Buffalo -- who had just made his NFL debut on December 5 after spending most of the year on the physically unable to perform list, solidified a running game that had shown very little during the season. He ran for 74 yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship game against the Bears, following up a 66-yard showing against Atlanta and a 123-yard performance against Philadelphia. Starks added another 52 yards in the Super Bowl.

Jon Bryant, 2000 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

Bryant hit 5 of 9 three-pointers in the regional final, finishing with 18 points and earning West Regional Most Outstanding Player as the Badgers beat Purdue and capped a shocking run to the Final Four. Truly, just about anyone on this team could have been viewed as a surprise contributor, but Bryant led the way as the team's third-leading scorer at 8.2 points per game during the regular season, with starts in 22 of 36 games. He hit double figures in all four NCAA wins, including 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting from deep against Fresno State.

Yuniesky Betancourt, 2011 Milwaukee Brewers

Betancourt was near the bottom offensively and defensively among NL shortstops, but in the playoffs, he was something else entirely. Not only did his bloop single memorably give the Brewers the lead against the Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the NLDS, he went on to hit 8 of 24 in the NLCS, with a home run and five RBIs against the Cardinals. In the NLDS, he finished with five hits — including a double and triple — in 18 at-bats.

Joah Tucker, 2005 UW-Milwaukee men's basketball

Tucker was the team's second-leading scorer and unquestionably one of the best players on the Panthers, but he became a household name in March of 2005 during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, when UWM became a Cinderella and reached the Sweet 16 of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Tucker, a Nicolet High School product, scored 23 points with six assists and four boards in a win over Boston College, following up his 21-point, four-rebound effort in a first-round upset over Alabama. He added a gaudy 32 points on 12 of 18 shooting in a Sweet 16 loss to top seed Illinois.

When Tucker scored 24 points the following year in a first-round upset over Oklahoma, most people were already familiar with him.

John Salmons, 2010 Milwaukee Bucks 

Salmons was acquired in February of 2010 and proceeded to finish off a career year with the Bucks. In 30 games, he averaged 19.9 points per game, and in the playoffs, he led the injury-depleted "Fear the Deer" squad in an exciting seven-game tilt with the Atlanta Hawks, finishing with 17.0 points per game and a team lead in steals, assists and minutes. This was a team that had a number of unlikely top contributors, including Brandon Jennings and Playoff Kurt Thomas. Salmons finished his career averaging 9.3 points and 2.4 assists per game.