Each season brings surprising revelations.
We are not referring to players like Corbin Carroll or Gunnar Henderson, luxury prospects who lived up to expectations when they reached the Major Leagues. We are talking about players who went unnoticed before reaching the Majors or who had not managed to perform at the level expected of them.
In 2023, however, the following eight individuals made themselves felt with undeniable authority. From now on, you will remember their names.
Here, we present the most surprising revelations of the year.
Kyle Bradish, Abridor, Orioles
Bradish was a below-average starter for the surging Orioles in 2022. Back then, he was a youngster with some potential who still had a 4.90 ERA in 23 starts. Due to Baltimore’s shortcomings in its rotation heading into the 2023 season, Bradish got another chance and finally pitched up to the potential the front office had seen developing.
Bradish firmly established himself as the team’s ace, increasing his strikeout rate, reducing his walks rate, and cutting his home run rate allowed nearly in half. The result was a 2.83 earned run average — an improvement of nearly two full runs — and fourth place in American League Cy Young Award voting. The Orioles still need to bolster their rotation for 2024, but with Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez, the top two spots look very solid.
J.P. Crawford, SS, Marineros
Remember when Crawford was just an underwhelming Phillies prospect? He got a second chance in his career when Philadelphia sent him to Seattle after 2018 (along with Carlos Santana), but that didn’t result in an immediate rebound. Crawford hit .226 in 93 games in his first season with the Mariners. He was good enough to win a Gold Glove in the shortened 2020 campaign and established himself as a starting shortstop the next two years, but there was still a sense that Crawford had not reached his full potential, having been considered one of the best. 10 Major League prospects.
But that changed completely in 2023. Crawford ended up leading the American League in walks (94) and found his power, going from six home runs to a career-high 19. His on-base percentage rose more than 40 points to .380, and his slugging over 100 at .438. As a result, he received American League MVP votes and a reputation for responding in crucial situations and being a team leader.
Looking ahead to 2023, Jones was perhaps the player on this list who went most unnoticed, despite the fact that for several years he was one of the top 100 prospects in the Majors. After a disappointing 28-game major league debut with the Guardians in 2022, Jones was sent to Denver in an offseason trade that didn’t receive much attention.
He began the year at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he hit .356 in 39 games, before being called up to Colorado’s big team at the end of May. Basically, he was the best player on this team for the rest of the year. In 106 games, he hit 20 homers and hit .297/.389/.542 on a team that needed something positive. Jones will turn 26 in May, so he’s off to a late start, but this is precisely the type of player the Rockies, or really any team, needs to find.
In a crowded Padres infield, in 2022 Kim established himself as a starter who shines with his defense. However, with the arrival of Aruban Xander Bogaerts during the winter, it was not known if Kim would have an equally important role in 2023.
Kim turned out to be one of the most consistent players on an inconsistent team during an extremely inconsistent campaign. He won his first Gold Glove and increased his on-base percentage by 26 points, to .351. He also took advantage of the new rules in 2023, increasing his stolen base total from 12 to 38 (sixth in the majors) and receiving MVP votes even as San Diego finished with a disappointing 82-80 record.
Jordan Montgomery, Starter, Cardinals/Rangers
Traded by the Yankees at the 2022 Trade Deadline, Montgomery’s value has increased quite a bit. He helped the Cardinals reach the playoffs that season and not only did the same for the Rangers after the 2023 Trade Deadline, but also became a postseason star for the eventual World Series champions.
Montgomery set the tone in October for Texas with seven scoreless innings in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series at Tampa Bay. He then went 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three ALCS appearances (two starts) against the Astros. The lefty picked the perfect time for his breakout season and is now one of the best starters available on the free agent market.
Luis Robert Jr., CF, White Sox
This was what the White Sox had been waiting for since Roberto debuted in 2020. Not much went well for the Chicago South team in 2023, but Robert was finally healthy for a full season and the results were spectacular.
In 145 games, the Cuban hit 38 home runs and also stole 20 bases, while providing solid defense. Those 145 games were almost the same amount he played between 2021 and 2022. Health is a skill, so Robert will have to stay on the field for several consecutive seasons before we can say that he is a true superstar. But now we know that, when he’s healthy, a superstar is precisely what he is.
Justin Steele, Starter, Cubs
Steele pitched well in 2022, even a little better than well: He had a 3.18 ERA in 24 starts, and while he probably walked too many, he kept the ball in the park. Most people didn’t really notice what he did, with Steele being a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher who was never a top prospect. It’s fair to say that no one had him on their short list of candidates for the 2023 National League Cy Young Award.
But for most of 2023, until a slight decline at the end, Steele was a serious contender for that honor. The best? He continued to keep the ball in the park, but nearly halved his walk rate and was backed by a far superior defense. He finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting…and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he finished just as high again next year.
Think of all the stars in the Phillies lineup: Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, Nick Castellanos. The list is long. Well, guess which player led all Philadelphia position players in wins above replacement (WAR), according to FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. That’s right: Stott.
This was largely due to his stupendous defense at second base, but he also improved at bat in his second season in the Major Leagues, with an above-average OPS+ (104) in 151 games and hitting 18 more extra-base hits than in 2022. A lot of games are won with players like Stott on a team, especially this version of him. If you didn’t know it when the campaign started, you know it now.
2023-12-25 22:29:57
#players #shined #unexpectedly #year
