30 Hitting Seasons You Might’ve Missed
Touring the league to highlight a player per team whose efforts could’ve slipped past your radar.
National League
Johan Camargo, ATL | .272/.351/.456, 18 HR, 75 RBI
Put up quality offensive effort with dual eligibility at 3B and SS.
Adam Eaton, WAS | .298/.393/.410, 9 SB in 92 G
Posted his normal season production, but it might’ve been missed with just 92 games.
Cesar Hernandez, PHI | 14 HR, 19 SB
Couldn’t match his .294 AVG for a third straight year, but still put up a top 10 2B season.
Amed Rosario, NYM | 9 HR, 22 SB
Heralded prospect did some things this year, including .295 AVG and 13 SB from August 1st on.
Brian Anderson, MIA | 85 R, .272 AVG, 10 HR
A solid rookie campaign in Miami’s lost season.
Willson Contreras, CHC | 9 HR, .252
They won’t all be positive seasons (OK, this is the only negative one)… Contreras needs a strong finish to end as a top 10 catcher.
Travis Shaw, MIL | 31 HR, 83 RBI
Didn’t quite match last year’s 101 RBI and .273 AVG (just .240 this year), but added 2B eligibility.
Yadier Molina, STL | 20 HR, 74 RBI, .267 AVG
Another big campaign paired with catcher being a wasteland allowed him to finish 2nd (unless Wilson Ramos pops like 5-6 HR this week) and he was 7th drafted back in March.
Francisco Cervelli, PIT | .259/.378/.430, 12 HR, 57 RBI
I didn’t plan for the NL Central to be the catcher division, but they had one of the biggest duds, the savviest vet, and one of the biggest surprises.
Scooter Gennett, CIN | .315 AVG, 23 HR, 92 RBI
He fully backed up his excellent 2017 and unless you rostered him, it might have slipped your radar.
Yasiel Puig, LAD | 22 HR, 15 SB, .271 AVG
He needed just 120 games to put up a helluva season, but why does his house keep getting robbed?!
Ian Desmond, COL | 20 HR, 20 SB, 80 R, 84 RBI
Sure, he only hit .235, but 20-20-80-80 is really useful.
David Peralta, ARI | .296 AVG, 29 HR, 86 RBI
This is one of those seasons where you’re aware that Peralta did well, but might not realize just how great he was unless he was contributing to your team.
Gorkys Hernandez, SF | 15 HR, 8 SB
Not really useful beyond NL-only, but not a bad contribution from a $1/waiver pickup 5th OF in deep leagues. (Their offense was terrible… I almost picked Cutch even though he was traded)
Franmil Reyes, SD | 16 HR, .286 AVG in 83 G
He added 16 more in Triple-A (58 G) after a 25-homer campaign last year (135 G), so it might not be out of bounds to use this half season to say he has 30-homer potential.
American League
Xander Bogaerts, BOS | .286 AVG, 21 HR, 96 RBI, 8 SB
He was just overshadowed by a pair of MVP candidates, but he’s still a stud.
Luke Voit, NYY | 11 HR, .302 AVG in 35 G
He’s definitely given them some choices to make at 1B in his 130 PA of excellence as Greg Bird also hit 11 homers, but in 305 PA.
Mallex Smith, TB | 36 SBs
The third highest SB total in MLB.
Randal Grichuk, TOR | 24 HR, .786 OPS
Spotted the league a month (2 HR, .435 OPS) and missed May with a sprained knee (s0 spotted ’em two months really), but rallied with an .854 OPS and 22 HR from June 1st on.
Jonathan Villar, BAL | 17 SB, 8 HR since trade
Salvaged his season and now has 31 SB and 14 HR on the season.
Michael Brantley, CLE | .309 AVG, 17 HR, 75 RBI, 87 R
Like Bogaerts in Boston, Brantley’s brilliant season was overshadowed by two MVP candidates taking all the shine.
Eddie Rosario, MIN | .288 AVG, 24 HR, 77 RBI, 87 R, 8 SB
Another 2017 breakout who fully backed up his big season with another huge campaign.
Niko Goodrum, DET | 16 HR, 12 SB
Everyone knows how well Castellanos did this year so that left very little to go for here… in fact, I missed my Tigers on the first run so thanks to rlew in the comments for mentioning my hilarious error. Goodrum was a deep leaguer, but qualified at 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, and OF so his counting stats and maneuverability helped overshadow his .241 AVG.
Tim Anderson, CWS | 20 HR, 26 SB
A bargain Ian Desmond, who still has flawed plate skills, but more than doubled his walk rate to 5% (yes, a 5% is more than double what he did last year).
Adalberto Mondesi, KC | 12 HR, 26 SB in 70 G
You knew I was going to use Mondesi for KC, but maybe I shouldn’t have because me not shutting up about him ensured that you didn’t miss the season. He was just so great in so few games that I wanted to give him one more mention. Whit Merrifield 39 SBs (2nd in MLB) and Ryan O’Hearn popping 12 HRs in 40 games are both worth noting, too.
Tyler White, HOU | .294/.376/.572, 12 HR in 61 G
He forced his way into the lineup with his huge second half. Evan Gattis is a free agent so there should be room for White and Yuli Gurriel next year.
Stephen Piscotty, OAK | 26 HR, 85 RBI
Dealing with personal tragedy (his mother passed in May) has to be so difficult, but he absolutely rallied with a .290 AVG and 23 HR from June 1st on.
Mitch Haniger, SEA | 26 HR, 91 RBI, 88 R, .285 AVG
You might’ve lost track of him after 10 April HR, but he has closed with a .332 AVG and 8 HR since August 1st.
Kole Calhoun, LAA | 19 HR
Ok this was a tough team because their stars were well known (Trout, Ohtani, Simmons, and Upton) and there wasn’t much else beyond that. I chose Calhoun because he had three homers through June, but surged in the final three months with 16 HR and an .806 OPS in 311 PA.
Jurickson Profar, TEX | 19 HR, 10 SB
The former mega-prospect is still just 25 years old and enjoyed a really solid season while qualifying almost everywhere (1B, 2B, SS, 3B, OF in most leagues). He’ll still hold 1B, SS, and 3B next year.
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Who’s your favorite from this list and did I miss anyone you really liked?
You missed someone I really like – the Detroit Tigers.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL I missed my own favorite team!!
Mine, too. That’s why I caught it. Self-loathing is understandable.
Obviously Niko Goodrum, right?
Correct!
Submission: Adam Frazier. 2B/OF eligible, .284/.349/.467 with a .350 wOBA and a 121 WRC+. The counting stats are whatever, but he was great for Ottoneu leagues.
He was my #2 for Pittsburgh
And nobody’s asleep on Adalberto Mondesi anymore. No amount of negging could have hidden him.
For sure, just had to give him one more hype session since I’m not paying his obscene price next year.
Eugenio Suarez in 13th made up for k.bryant in the 2nd.
Almost gave him and Gennett a duo entry because they both went a little unnoticed if you didn’t have them on your roster and they were fantastic.
Paul, you really do great work.
Thank you so much, Jim!
Daniel palka- 27 hrs in 401abs
Actually typed him in for CWS before pivoting to Anderson. Definitely a worthy candidate!
Palka’s 33.5% K rate makes Anderson look downright choosy at the plate! Palka is a one-trick pony.
Soooo…About Mondesi. I’m in a 12 team H2H points league, 15 keepers(I’ve traded for 2 more)and we use actual mlb salaries for our salary cap. Our rosters lock in early August with no FA pickups until after postseason. The only time we use waiver order is after season, when everyone wants the guys who may have blown up late. I just traded to get the 1st 2 waiver spots to grab Mondesi and Franco. Mondesi’s has to be kept, right?
With 15 keepers, definitely. Heck, even 10 keepers (120 players) would be an auto keep for me. It’s his top 70 ADP that has me buggin right now.
That 70 ADP is craaazy. His strikeouts kept him off my radar(-1 in our league) but over the last month-ish his 3.75 pts/gm is impossible to ignore, as that would be good for a top 10 hitter over a full season. (We get +2 for sb’s ;). SSS, but even taking his full-season, his pts /gm has him as the #45 hitter…Do you have any optimism that he can cut his K rate or improve his BB rate?
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-greatest-hope-in-kansas-city/
Jeff Zimmerman has me covered!
Villar also added SS eligibility in many leagues – he just started his 14th game at SS today so even if he plays every game the rest of the way he won’t get to 20 (by my count he would end up with 19) but he will in leagues with lower requirements.
Gorkys Hernandez is the perfect “you might’ve missed him” candidate. Was a solid $1 piece in my very deep Ottoneu league.
Todd Frazier putting up 18HRs and 9 SBs in 110 games is pretty solid for a player who was basically available for free in 12-teamers. I’ll be buying in again next year.
I know I’m saying this for virtually everyone y’all are bringing up, but I really did consider the Toddfather for NYM. Y’all are hitting on my #2s really well here.
Puig puts together good season lines but he is infuriating for weekly leagues because his production comes in bunches that are so few and far between. Love the guy for roto, but h2h he is totally undependable.
It’s partly because he is terrible against lefties for some inexplicable reason.
Yea he can’t hit lefties and he plays for the people who overcoach.
Paul, nice write up. Bryant is on the wire in 5 of my 30 yahoo leagues. 2 of them I dropped him, but still.
Mondesis price is going to be absurd. If I was a betting man, and I am I would venture you cannot get him after pick 50 next year.
Cervelli covered catcher during Sanchez injury. Brantley, Peralta, and Suarez were all huge for me. Aguilar had some big weeks
I didn’t have these guys but Hicks (dropped him for Brantley in May) / Inciarte / Semien / Segura all finished top 75 in our league.
Great stuff Paul!
Franmil is going to such an interesting player next year. I’m hoping his value doesn’t get too inflated. In the 2H he slashed .320/.382/.553 And his BB% and K% got a lot better (9.1 & 21.2).
If everything breaks right for him, could he turn into a Stanton-like phenotype?
He reminds me physically of Chris Carter, so I’m afraid his 2H is going to be an aberration. The power looks legit, and I hope I’m not being prejudiced because of the Carter comp. He’s not responsible for Carter’s swings and misses!
He actually has solid obp skills, and doesn’t strike out a ton. It seems like he should strike out a bit more, and batting average will almost certainly regress but he is def going to be the guy I throw some 200 to 1 lead the league in hr bets on next year. And Chris Carter was not bad in fantasy.
Mondesi, White, and Piscotty carried me to a championship. Lots of love for those three.
I love the disconnect between Fantasy and RL baseball sometimes; Desmond strong fantasy campaign but -0.7 WAR.
I have been having an internal nerd debate about Acuna and Soto in Fantasy. I feel like Acuna’s offensive profile lends itself perfectly to fantasy in all categories, while Soto is also a superlative hitter, but is much more a RL baller with crazy plate disc and BB%, marginal speed, and kinda a Joey Vottaesque hitter not digging HR’s and RBI’s per se.
Just wanted to get that thought out haha
Change your league from AVG to OBP. We did that a couple years ago without going full Sabr (still HR/RBI/R/SB for the other cats) and it’s been a great change.
The favorite? I’d have to go with Mallex and Mondesi. Because those steals came so cheap baby 😀
Jed Lowrie, having a breakout year at age 34.. should get his 100th RBI on the last day. Not to mention Khris Davis who has quietly been the best Home Run hitter in baseball for three years running. Also has a chance at eclipsing JD Martinez for RBI tomorrow, to make 2/3 for a triple crown. He’s on track to hit .247 for the 4th year in a row. Talk about consistency. Most Home Runs in baseball since he joined the A’s.. 40+ 3 years in a row. He’s now in the conversation of all time franchise greats.
Two traded-away Cardinals on the list–watch out for Pham next year! Saint Louis is probably rethinking the Fowler signing and the trading of Marco Gonzalez for an OF.