Keep in mind that this article was written on June 25th, not August 5th.
A couple days ago, agreements were made between the owners and the players, finally. The MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a 60-game format along with a myriad of different rules including a universal designated hitter.
Throughout those 60 games, players will either succeed or unravel under pressure. Here is one player from each team that will thrive under these unprecedented circumstances in baseball history.
Orioles: John Means, LHP
To be honest, he’s one of the only good players on the Orioles right now, and he had a 12 win and 11 loss season last year. However, his potential seems to be rising so keep your eye out for him.
Red Sox: Rafael Devers, 3B
He seems to be the one that will step up in Boston while Mookie Betts is in Los Angeles playing with 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger. Devers is a solid fielder at third and is probably one of the best contact hitters in the league right now. To prove my point, he got 201 hits last year, according to Baseball-Reference.com. That total was 2nd in the American League behind Whit Merrifield of the Royals. In addition, he got 115 RBI’s last year as well. This total had him just squeaking into the top 10 in all of the MLB, tied with, who else, Cody Bellinger. This guy is going to be an opponent killer for years to come, and it makes me cringe just saying that because I’m a Yankee fan.
Yankees: Gleyber Torres, SS
At first, I was torn between Torres and DJ LeMahieu. They are in the top 5 of nearly every stat and they are going to be a double-play combo down the line. Did I want power or contact? Did I want potential or just raw talent? Turns out, I chose Gleyber Torres because of his power and rising potential. He had a .278 batting average, 38 home runs (13 of those coming against the abysmal Orioles), and 90 RBI’s, according to Baseball-Reference.com. He seems to get better every year and, maybe, might become one of the top players in baseball someday. I think the moral of the story here is that if he faces the Orioles enough times this year, he will get a boatload of balls flying out of whatever stadium the matchup takes place in.
Toronto Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B
Even though he had a shaky rookie year, his potential is definitely there. I know, his fielding is definitely not great. However, he can become one of the best hitters in baseball someday. He’s had so much time to become a better player, and if his fielding is just as good as his hitting, then watch out. Also, watch out for the young core he’s coming up with including Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette and recent draftee Austin Martin out of Vanderbilt.
Tampa Bay Rays: Austin Meadows, RF
In my opinion, Meadows is one of the more underrated players in the league. He nearly had a .300 average, had 33 home runs and 89 RBI’s. He is a solid contact hitter with a little pop. However, he’s not the best fielder. Similar to Guerrero Jr, if he works on his fielding a little bit, he is going to be a really good player as his career progresses. According to baseballsavant.com, based off of his 2019 hitting stats, Meadows is comparable to players like Marcell Ozuna, Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Olson. If you ask me, that seems like good company to be a part of.
Minnesota Twins: Max Kepler, RF
Fun fact: Kepler is the only active player in the MLB that’s from Germany. Last year, the Berlin product had a .252 average, 36 home runs and 90 RBI’s. These numbers look similar to Austin Meadows’ from earlier. However, based off of his hitting stats from last year, he’s most comparable to Marcus Semien, according to Baseball Savant. Furthermore, he has a great arm and can cover a lot of ground in right field.
Cleveland Indians: Mike Clevinger, RHP
In my opinion, Clevinger is one of the more underrated pitchers in the league right now. He’s got a fastball that varies between 95 and 97 mph and filthy breaking pitches. These include a slider, curveball and changeup. Last year, he was 13-4 with a 2.71 ERA (earned run average) and a 12.1 strikeouts per 9 innings. His ERA total stacks up against some of the best pitchers in baseball, including Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, and Gerrit Cole. Watch out for Clevinger in a few years, he’s going to turn into a beast.
Chicago White Sox: Yoán Moncada, 3B
He’s got a really nice glove at third base and has really good arm strength as well. For the offense, he’s a switch-hitter, which is super valuable, and has stupid pop from both sides of the batter’s box. However, the numbers say he prefers the left side. He has a .322 average, 21 HR’s and 54 RBI’s on that side. He’s going to be a great piece to that young core the White Sox have currently.
Kansas City Royals: Jorge Soler, RF/DH
Soler has decent fielding skills in right field when he’s there, but it’s all about the hitting with him. When he gets a hold of one, you might as well look away and assume it’s a homer. He had a .265 average, 48 home runs (which lands him in the top 3 HR totals in baseball) and 117 RBI’s. Those are some insane numbers! If your a pitcher and your about to face Jorge Soler, good luck to you.
Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera, 1B
In spring training this year, he was absolutely crushing the ball and recently, he’s been working hard in the batting cages. All signs seem to point to a comeback for Miggy during father time. Also, Miggy is Miggy. There’s just no two ways about it.
Oakland Athletics: Matt Chapman, 3B
When you first think of Matt Chapman, you think of how good his defense is. He can make crazy diving plays at the hot corner and still have the arm strength that he has to throw out a runner at first or second, depending on the situation. Nevertheless, he’s also got really sneaky good power. He had 36 HR’s and 91 RBI’s, along with a .249 average. He could be the next Nolan Arenado in the future.
Los Angeles Angels: Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH
Ohtani is one of very few MLB players that pitches and hits. In his rookie season, he was able to pitch and hit for a little bit. That is, until he had a knee injury and had to get Tommy John surgery. In 2019, he was only able to hit and he had an okay season. He had a .286 average, 18 home runs and 62 RBI’s. Now, this year, he is finally able to pitch and hit again. Let’s see how he does this year and in the future.
Texas Rangers: Corey Kluber, RHP
This prized acquisition that the Rangers got will definitely help them out, and not just this season. Yes, I know he was hot trash the last couple years and had an ERA over 5 last year. However, if the Rangers can steer Kluber back to his good years, then they have a great pitcher on their hands. For instance, between 2016-18, he averaged a 2.77 ERA, along with a 19-7 record. In addition, he was an All-Star all three years and won a Cy Young award (best pitcher) in 2017. I know he can be inconsistent but, no matter what, the Rangers got a rotation staple for a few years.
Seattle Mariners: Kyle Seager, 3B
Seager’s been Mr. Consistent for the M’s ever since he arrived in Seattle. If you take all of his stats and average them, you get a .256 average, 25 HR’s and 86 RBI’s. Additionally, you would get an .324 on-base percentage, .443 slugging percentage and a combined .767 OPS. He’s an all-time great in Seattle and what I call, the Cal Ripken of Mariners baseball.
Houston Astros: Alex Bregman, 3B
All I’m gonna say here is that Bregman has good power and he had a .296 average, 41 HR’s and 112 RBI’s last year. This is because in my opinion, they shouldn’t deserve an explanation in this article because of what they did. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look up the Ken Rosenthal interview with Mike Fiers on the Athletic.
Sources: baseball-reference.com, mlb.com