We talk about clutch players in baseball -- those players who deliver in the biggest moments and under the brightest of lights. But what about players who produce for long stretches of time, particularly when their teams need it the most, like down the stretch as postseason races heat up?

Here's a look at five pitchers and five hitters who are among the best active players when it comes to performance in the second half of the season. For pitchers, we use the difference between career ERA and career ERA in the second half, and for hitters, we do the same thing with OPS.

If it's after the All-Star break, it helps to have these guys on your side:

Pitchers

Julio Urías, Dodgers: - 1.03 (3.06 career ERA/2.03 second-half ERA)
Urías hasn’t had the type of season he or the Dodgers have come to expect from the left-hander, who won the National League ERA title last season (2.16). He had a 4.76 ERA during the first half of the season as the Dodgers tried to patch together a starting rotation in the absence of injured starters Walker Buehler and Dustin May.

While his second half has been up and down so far, Urías' last two starts have been promising -- over 11 innings, he gave up three runs, including five scoreless frames against the A's his last time out. And if you take out an ugly start against the Orioles in Baltimore on July 19 (eight runs over five innings), he has a 1.59 ERA since the All-Star break.

Blake Snell, Padres: -0.72 (3.29/2.57)
Will the Padres ever get it together before it's too late for 2023? One bright spot San Diego will need to remain illuminated is Snell, who has been dominant on the mound this season. 

The 30-year-old southpaw leads the Majors with a 2.50 ERA, and the bad news for opposing hitters only tends to get worse in the second half of the season. That seems to be the case again in 2023 -- in four starts since the All-Star break, Snell has a 0.86 ERA. Something he'll need to be careful of, though, is his control. Snell has walked 19 over 21 innings in that span.

Alex Cobb, Giants: -0.66 (3.78/3.12)
Cobb has turned back the clock to his early days in Tampa Bay. The 35-year-old right-hander is putting together his finest season since 2014, when he posted a 2.87 ERA over 27 starts for the Rays prior to missing the following season due to Tommy John surgery.

The second half of the season has been good to Cobb, whose ERA after the All-Star break is 3.12. So far this year, the second half has been up and down for the veteran right-hander. But if he starts to surge, it’ll go a long way toward helping the Giants sustain the improbable run they’ve been on to remain competitive in the playoff chase.

Jack Flaherty, Orioles: -0.66 (3.56/2.90)
New team, same Jack. At least in his first start with the O’s following a trade from St. Louis earlier this week. Flaherty made a strong first impression with his new club, tossing six innings against the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon, yielding just one run on four hits, walking two and striking out eight.

Since the beginning of July, when Flaherty's season ERA was 4.95, the right-hander has pitched to a 2.78 ERA over six starts. If the trend continues, The Orioles' big Trade Deadline move will be looked back upon fondly in Baltimore, especially if Flaherty helps the club go deep into October.

Max Fried, Braves: -0.56 (3.02/2.46)
How have the Braves been able to not only survive the loss of Fried to injury back in April, but thrive? It helps that his replacement pitched to a 3.18 ERA over 21 starts. It also helps to have Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton as rotation mates. Oh, and then there’s the minor matter of having the most potent offensive attack in the game.

Fried made his long-anticipated return to the mound for Atlanta on Friday, and all he did was throw six scoreless innings in an 8-0 win over the Cubs. The left-hander gave up three hits, walked none and struck out eight. That certainly fits his second-half modus operandi in the past, and if it continues, the team with baseball's best record will be even tougher to beat.

Hitters

Jorge Soler, Marlins: +.099 (.790 career OPS/.889 second-half OPS)
The later in the season, the better for Soler. If we didn’t know that, he gave us a pretty good indication when he won the 2021 World Series MVP Award with the Braves. He loves October -- in 26 career playoff games, he has a .292/.418/.692 slash line with six homers. 

The Marlins would be thrilled to see Soler hit in the postseason this fall, because that would mean Miami is in it. If he stays true to his career trends, Soler will do his part in helping his club reach that point. So far, it hasn't worked out that way; entering Friday, he was hitting .186/.237/.329 since the All-Star break. He'll hope a strong series against the Phillies this week gets him going -- he went 5-for-18 with a pair of homers.

Nathaniel Lowe, Rangers: +.080 (.812/.892)
Lowe had his breakout season last year, when he smashed 27 home runs and posted a career-best .851 OPS for Texas. With the Rangers making a serious run at their first division title in seven years, the hope in Arlington will be that the slugging first baseman once again surges in the second half of the season.

Last season, Lowe was red-hot down the stretch, hitting .339 with a .964 OPS in the second half, which included a monster August in which he slugged .648 with seven homers. So far this year, he's been true to form since the All-Star break, posting a 1.107 OPS with three homers in 18 games entering Friday.

Alex Bregman, Astros: +.062 (.860/.922)
Bregman’s .922 second-half OPS is sixth among all active players. And this year has been no exception so far when it comes to the star third baseman's tendency to have a second-half slugging surge.

In 19 games since the All-Star break, Bregman is hitting .301/.386/.589 with six homers (he had 12 homers the entire first half). The dog days, in particular, have been good to him -- he has a career .995 OPS in August. Combine that with the second-half exploits of another dangerous bat in Houston's lineup (more on him below), and the Astros could just overtake Texas and win their sixth AL West title in seven years.

Bo Bichette, Blue Jays: +.054 (.834/.888)
While it hasn’t been a concern up to now during Bichette’s young MLB career, health is now top of mind when it comes to the young star shortstop. He’s currently on the 10-day injured list with a knee injury, but if he’s back after 10 days or perhaps a bit more, it would be a huge boon for the Jays as they chase a postseason spot in a tough AL East.

That’s because Bo knows late-season success. Bichette loves the final month of the regular season, in particular -- the hit machine owns a .336/.374/.556 slash line throughout his career in September and early October. Talk about finishing strong, which is exactly what Toronto aims to do as a team in 2023.

Kyle Tucker, Astros: +.050 (.849/.899)
Tucker has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball since the All-Star break, and that lines up nicely with his career splits. Entering play Friday, Houston's slugging right fielder had a .352/.429/.704 slash line with six homers in 19 second-half games.

With it being the time of year when Tucker is at his best, along with Bregman in the same boat, and with Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve back from injury, the Astros could make another major run to October as they try to become the first repeat World Series champions since the Yankees from 1998-2000.