Rookies played key roles for each American League team that qualified for the post-season this year.

Infielders Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles and Josh Jung of the Texas Rangers along with Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz provided big offensive boosts. The Minnesota Twins got fine production from three rookies: third baseman Royce Lewis, second baseman Edouard Julien and outfielder Matt Wallner.

The Twins hope Lewis will be available when they open a AL Wild Card Series tomorrow against the Toronto Blue Jays. He has not played since Sept. 19 due to a strained hamstring.

The Twins had a 27-26 record when Lewis was called up from the minors after batting .353 with six homers and 14 RBI over 14 games. Minnesota went 60-49 the rest of the way to win the AL Central Division by nine games.

Lewis batted .182 in his first eight games, then caught fire. Over his next 18 games, he hit 403 (25-for-62), then missed six weeks with an oblique strain.

Julien and Wallner picked up the slack. Over an 11-game stretch, Julien hit .563 (18-for-32) with 5 homers. Wallner hit four homers in five games.

Henderson powered Baltimore’s torrid mid-season. The 22-year-old had a .201 average on June 1. The lefty swinger then batted .320 in June with six homers. The Orioles had a 94-56 record with him in the lineup. He hit .298 with 24 homers and 72 RBI in the wins; .179 with four homers, a paltry 10 RBI and 71 strikeouts in the losses.

As important as Henderson is to the Orioles’ offense, three rookie pitchers probably hold the key to Baltimore’s post-season.

With ace closer Felix Bautista (8-2, 1.48 ERA, 33 saves) sidelined after Tommy John surgery, Yennier Cano must step up. The 29-year-old Cuban was excellent in a setup role. In 15 outings after Bautista went down on Aug. 25, Cano had a 4.63 ERA.

Hall had 78 strikeouts and allowed only 39 hits over 52 innings in the minors as a starter. He was called up when Bautista got hurt and used exclusively in relief. In 17 outings, he went 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA.

Rodriguez helped quell the bullpen yips by performing like an ace starter. Over his final 59 2/3 innings, he went 5-2 with a sparkling 2.41 ERA and 59 strikeouts. The right-hander going deep into games could take pressure off manager Brandon Hyde, who must now mix and match his relief corps.

The defending World Series champion Astros had starters Luis Garcia (out for the season) and Jose Urquidy miss significant time with injuries. Rookie right-handers Hunter Brown and J.P France helped fill the void with a combined 22 wins.

Injuries to Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley and Yordan Alvarez left the offense sputtering. Rookie Diaz’s potent bat came to the rescue. The 24-year-old hit .282 with 23 homers.

If not for Josh Jung missing 36 games with a broken left thumb, the Texas Rangers probably would have secured the AL West and avoided a wild card series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Texas tied Houston at 90-72 and lost the tiebreaker to the Astros.

The Rangers also lost Jung for nearly six weeks. Texas immediately went 9-18 without Jung, going from a three-game lead to three games back. They won seven of the first nine games after his return on Sept. 18.

The Toronto Blue Jays got a late boost from an unlikely source. Davis Schneider, a 28th-round draft pick in 2017, hit .426 with 14 RBI in 14 games in August. Toronto went 21-14 with him in the lineup overall to claim the final wild-card berth with an 89-73 record.

Gunnar Henderson, 3B-SS: 28 HR, 82 RBI, .255

Jordan Westburg, 2B-3B: 3 HR, 23 RBI, .260

Yennier Cano, RP: 1-4, 2.11 ERA, 8 SV, 31 HLD

DL Hall, RP : 3-0, 3.26 ERA, 2 HLD

Grayson Rodriguez, SP: 7-4, 4.35 ERA

Yainer Diaz, C-1B: 23 HR, 60 RBI, .282

Hunter Brown, SP: 11-13, 5.09 ERA

J.P. France, SP: 11-6, 3.83 ERA

Eduouard Julien, 2B: 16 HR, 37 RBI, .263

Royce Lewis, 3B: 15 HR, 52 RBI, .309

Matt Wallner, LF-RF: 14 HR, 41 RBI, .249

Kody Funderburk, RP: 2-0, 0.75 ERA, 1 HLD

Louie Varland, SP-RP: 4-3, 4.63 ERA, 2 HLD

Oselvis Basabe, INF-OF: 1 HR, 12 RBI, .218

Curtis Mead, 3B: 1 HR, 5 RBI, .253

Taj Bradley, SP: 5-9, 5.59 ERA

Kevin Kelly, RP: 5-23, 3.22 ERA, 1 SV, 11 HLD

Josh Jung, 3B: 23 HR, 70 RBI, .266

Cody Bradford, RP-SP: 4-3, 5.30 ERA

Davis Schneider, 2B-OF: 8 HR, 20 RBI, .276

Bowden Francis, RP: 1-0, 1.73 ERA, 1 SV

Jeremy Peña, SS, 2022 Astros: Peña batted .345 with four homers and played fine defense in 13 games. He hit .353 in the ALCS and .400 in the World Series.

Randy Arozarena, OF, 2020 Rays: How hot was he? He batted .377 with 29 hits, and 10 homers in 20 games. He also scored in the ninth inning on one of the wildest plays in World Series history to give the Rays an improbable 8-7 victory of Game 4.

Mike Boddicker, RHP, 1983 Orioles: He was the first AL rookie to throw a shutout in the ALCS, fanning 14 White Sox in a five-hitter. He allowed one unearned run and three hits to beat the Phillies in Game Two — the fewest hits allowed by a rookie in a World Series game since Chicago’s Dickey Kerr’s 3-0 three-hitter over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 3 in 1919.

Gene Bearden, LHP, 1948 Indians: The 27-year-old knuckleballer beat the Red Sox in Boston in the regular-season tiebreaker to put Cleveland in the World Series. He had a five-hit shutout to win Game 3 against the Boston Braves and earned a save in Game 6.

Charlie Keller, OF, 1939 Yankees: He batted .438 in a four-game World Series sweep of the Reds. He tripled and scored the winning run in Game 1, homered twice in Game 3 and homered again in Game 4.