Numerous Players Exceeding Expectations in 2016

There are certain players around Major League Baseball who you assume are going to have amazing seasons each and every year. Clayton Kershaw is perhaps the best example of that, as he holds the league lead in strikeouts yet again and possesses a mere 1.74 ERA through seven starts in 2016. But that’s nothing new. As stated, it happens every year. However, there are several players around baseball who are posting numbers that no one expected from them.

One of those is Nick Castellanos, who has been on a tear to begin the season. Through his first 34 games, Castellanos is hitting .348, with 8 home runs and 30 RBI’s. Those are the type of numbers you would look to find from Miguel Cabrera at this point of year, but not Castellanos. Although Castellanos is a former first-round draft pick, no one expected him to get off to such an amazing start. Last season, Castellanos hit just .255 with 15 homers and 73 runs batted in. If he can continue the pace he’s on, Castellanos is set to blow those numbers to pieces when all is said and done in 2016.

Another player who is putting up career numbers to this point is Daniel Murphy. In the playoffs last season with the Mets, Murphy showed signs of greatness, hitting a home run in six straight games, but when the Nationals picked him up this offseason I’m sure they didn’t foresee the type of production he’s giving them. Despite batting below .300 each of the past four years, Murphy is currently batting .400 on the season and has collected 5 home runs and 23 RBI’s to boot. Whether or not he can keep that up is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly been fun to watch to this point.

Likewise, a pair of rookies in the National League have been posting some over the top numbers in their 2016 campaigns to this point. Trevor Story and Aledmys Diaz are both off to hot starts for their respective teams this season, with each far exceeding what was likely expected of them in 2016.

Story would likely still be in Triple-A if Jose Reyes had begun the season with the Rockies. Instead, he got off to a historic start, and has collected 11 homers and 28 RBI’s all while hitting .280. Diaz, however, is performing even better than Story. A career .276 hitter in the minors, Diaz is currently holding a .376 average on the season, with 6 blasts and 20 RBI’s for the Cardinals. Both Diaz and Story should be in the Rookie of the Year running for the National League if they can keep performing as the season goes on.

On the pitching side of things, there are far more players who are having amazing starts to their 2016 season. For that reason, I had to narrow down the list. Since I discussed four hitters, I decided to cut the long list of pitchers down to just four as well — a difficult task to do. For that reason, keep in mind that I left off some of the pitchers who I could’ve included. So if you don’t see a player you feel should be here, that’s probably why.

With all of that said, the number one pitcher who is most exceeding expectations in my mind is Jose Quintana. Although Quintana has been a standout pitcher for the White Sox over the past few seasons, he’s always been the number two behind the Ace Chris Sale. In the minds of many, Sale is still the leader of that staff, but Quintana is actually leading Sale in ERA, with a mere 1.54 compared to Sale’s 1.67. In the end, however, while Sale is still the White Sox’s go-to, Quintana is quickly becoming a household name around baseball.

On a Chicago Cubs’ staff that includes the likes of Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, it would be expected that a guy such as Jason Hammel wouldn’t receive the same type of attention as his fellow starters. However, he is far exceeding what was expected out of him in 2016. So far, Hammel has a 1.77 ERA over the course of seven games started for the Cubs, who are off to an amazing start as a team. Never having posted a season ERA below 3.43 in any of his previous ten seasons, Hammel is off to a great start to his campaign. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up as the season rolls on.

Steven Wright is another pitcher who I feel is exceeding expectations in 2016. I discussed his unbelievable start to the season a few weeks ago, but despite falling off his torrid pace just a bit since that point in time, Wright is still having an unexpected year. With the pickup of David Price this offseason, he was expected to set the pace for the Red Sox’s rotations, but instead it’s Wright’s 2.36 ERA (following a 4.09 ERA last season) that is the best among their starters. As a knuckleball pitcher, you have no guarantee that he can keep up the start to the year, but so far so good for Wright.

The final player on my list of those who are having the most unexpectedly good seasons is Drew Pomeranz. Despite being the number five overall draft pick in 2010, Pomeranz has never truly been the type of pitcher he was originally envisioned to be. This season, however, he is finally showing signs of that type of pitcher. Pomeranz holds a 1.80 ERA through this point in the year, and has posted an 11.48 strikeout-per-nine rate, which is actually third best in all of baseball. With Pomeranz having career numbers, he simply had to make the list of players exceeding expectations in 2016.

So while there are still over 100 games still to be played before the full 2016 season stats are officially locked into the record books, Nick Castellanos, Daniel Murphy, Trevor Story and Aledmys Diaz on the hitting side, as well as Jose Quintana, Steven Wright, Jason Hammel and Drew Pomeranz for the pitchers, are all having seasons that no one could have predicted before things got underway on April 3rd. Although anything can happen in the many games to come, those are the players who I feel deserve the closest attention from now until the final regular season game on October 2nd.

Will 2016 Finally be the Year for the White Sox?

The Washington Nationals were hands down the most disappointing team of the 2015 season, but the White Sox weren’t all that far behind. After picking up Jeff Samardzija last offseason, along with David Robertson, Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera to go along with their already decent rotation and lineup, the White Sox were given a great shot by many people to make it back to the playoffs (at least via a Wild Card spot) for the first time since 2008.

But a number of things happened that kept the White Sox from ultimately reaching the postseason.

Samardzija, who had posted a stellar 2.99 ERA in 2014 and was being counted on to help the White Sox win a lot of games, was simply a bust this past season, plain and simple. Posting an 11-13 record with a 4.96 ERA, Samardzija did little at all to help the Sox. (Even so, the Giants have signed him to a 5-year, 90 million dollar contract.)

Their other big pickups for 2015 didn’t fare all that much better. David Robertson posted a decent 3.41 ERA, but wasn’t the dominant closer he’s been in the past. In addition, Adam LaRoche hit only 12 homers and batted .207, and Melky Cabrera, while he had a decent year, hitting .273 with 12 homers and 77 RBI’s, didn’t do quite as good as many felt he would.

It wasn’t just the newcomers who performed poorly, however. Of all the players on the roster who played in a full season worth of games, only Jose Abreu (Abreu’s 30 homers and 101 RBI’s were the only true stellar stats of any White Sox player in 2015), Adam Eaton and Melky Cabrera hit above .270. With such a poor offensive showing, the Sox placed 22nd in all of baseball with a mere .250 team average.

On the flip side, the Sox 3.98 team ERA wasn’t terrible, but it was still only good enough for 14th best. When you have a lineup that’s hitting on all cylinders, you can make up for a lack of dominant pitching. But when you have a lineup perform like the White Sox did in 2015, a near four team ERA on the year simply doesn’t cut it.

But there is a bit of hope for the White Sox heading into next season. Despite losing Jeff Samardzija to the Giants, they still have Jose Quintana who posted a team best 3.36 ERA in 2015, as well as their Ace, Chris Sale, who recorded a 3.41 ERA. Rookie Carlos Rodon should also be a big piece of the puzzle next season, as while he posted a 3.75 ERA in 2015, he has all the talent in the world to become a dominant starting pitcher.

Furthermore, the White Sox have made several key additions already this offseason that will inevitably help improve their offense immediately beginning on Opening Day 2016. The pickup of catcher Alex Avila will be a nice addition to their lineup, as should the trade they made for Brett Lawrie. But there is one key player the White Sox acquired this past week that has many people abuzz around the baseball world.

In a three-team, seven-player trade on Wednesday, the White Sox picked up Todd Frazier from the Reds to man the hot corner for them in 2016. In return, the White Sox sent Frankie Montas, Micah Johnson and Trayce Thompson to the Dodgers who then sent Jose Peraza, Scott Schebler and Brandon Dixon to the Reds. All in all, I see it as a good trade for everyone, though the loss of three good prospects could wind up hurting the White Sox down the road.

But the White Sox aren’t concerned with “what may have been” a year or two down the road. They’re focused on right here, right now. The pickup of Frazier, in addition to several other smaller pieces, makes the statement that the White Sox are looking to win in 2016. They certainly have the pieces if all of their players can simply live up to expectations.

As we know, however, that hardly ever happens. Teams who seemingly have everything all figured out are usually are the ones who turn out to be the biggest disappointments. Even so, if the White Sox can make a few more moves to better their team in the several months remaining until the start of the 2016 season, I really like their chances of making it a special year when all is said and done.

Then again, I said that about several teams last season . . . .