8 Players I Can’t Wait to Watch in 2020

We’d be a week into the 2020 season if things had gone as planned. A bunch of us would already be freaking out about our teams and Twitter would be littered with questions about cutting star-level players because they are 5-for-30. As much as those questions drive me insane, I do wish I was fielding them daily right now.

I don’t know when we’ll get baseball again, but here are 8 players I can’t wait to see when it does return:

Ozzie Albies | 2B, ATL

I love watching Albies play baseball. The 23-year old switch hitter has flashed an array of skills over his 1630 MLB plate appearances and his power/speed capability has made him a fantasy stud. I stilllll think there’s even more here, particularly with his speed. I could see a 25/25 or even 30/30 season from Albies at his best.

Matt Olson | 1B, OAK

I feel bad for the would-be 2020 HR leader. He’ll probably still lead the league if and when games start, but a 75-game HR title just isn’t the same. Don’t forget, he had hamate surgery last year and everyone thought his power would be gone for a year. Instead, he smashed 36 in 547 PA.

Brandon Woodruff | SP, MIL

I can’t wait to see Woody’s follow up to 2019, but the biggest disappointment is that we still won’t see how well he can handle a full season of innings. I’m in the group that believes he can handle 180+ innings, but we won’t find that out until 2021 at the earliest.

Franmil Reyes | OF, CLE

If I’m being honest, I’m not drafting Reyes a ton if only because Kyle Schwarber is available 30 picks later and they’re not that different. That said, I’m still eager to watch the Franimal. I have become a bigger fan of Reyes via his MLB The Show excellence. I traded for him on Oakland in a March to October run and he absolutely went off:

This definitely what Franimal was gonna do this year!!! #PS4share pic.twitter.com/KufIxjNPEt

— Paul Sporer (@sporer) March 24, 2020

Superstar #MLBTheShow20 pic.twitter.com/cG5Oc0wm41

— Paul Sporer (@sporer) March 25, 2020

Max Fried | SP, ATL

Fried added a slider and some velo last year, spurring a solid season. He gave up a few too many hits (9.5 H/9) and a higher BABIP has been an issue throughout his career, but I think there’s room for improvement here. If he cuts the hits, there’s major upside here because I could also see a jump in strikeouts with a full year of that new slider.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | OF, TOR / Cavan Biggio | 2B, TOR

I can’t wait to watch the Kin 4 (Bichette, Vlad Jr., and these two) and honestly, the shortened season could benefit the Jays as the volatility of 75-100 games. I’d be down to draft any of the four, but Bichette and Vlad Jr. are a good bit more expensive than these two. I’ve mentioned this throughout the offseason, but Gurriel essentially has a full season of MLB team and he’s put up 31 HR, 85 RBI, 92 R, and 7 SB with a .279 AVG in 606 PA.

Biggio needs to be a bit more aggressive. His 29% K rate just didn’t make any sense. He only had a 9% swinging strike rate so it’s not about whiffing a ton. He’s definitely missing hittable pitches and needs to consider attacking earlier in counts. There’s some major power/speed upside and even with the heavy strikeout rate, we still saw it in his 100-game sample last year (16 HR/14 SB).

Nathan Eovaldi | P, BOS

I can’t quit him. I have a problem. I think it’s because it’s not about talent, but rather health. If and when he’s healthy, he can be really, really good. A shortened season could benefit him, too, since he might only need to get through 100 innings to log a full season. Despite the volatility of his career, I really enjoy watching him pitch.