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?