2018 MLB Surprises

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 6, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

Every Dodger fan knows by now that Max Muncy is the biggest surprise in baseball this year, but there are other surprises out there, and today I’m going to take a look at them.

They may not be all-stars but each of these players are hitting a baseball better then they have ever done.

Catcher – Francisco Cervelli has been in major league baseball since 2008 and his highest wRC+ in that time as a full-time player was 117. It is hard for Cervelli to get full-time at-bats because injuries have plagued his career. This year Cervelli has the 2nd best wRC+ at 139 for all catchers with at least 150 plate appearances.

1st Base – we have three candidates for 1st base. Max Muncy, Matt Adams, and Jesus Aguilar. We don’t have any 3rd base candidates so I’m going to move Max Muncy over to 3rd. We have no outfield candidates and since Matt Adams played some outfield this year I’m going to move him to the outfield. This leaves Jesus Aguilar who has been crushing for the 1st place Brewers. Jesus has shown he can hit in the past but nothing like this. His wRC+ of 149 is the 3rd best for all 1st baseman with at least 150 plate appearances.  The two players above him are Max Muncy and Matt Adams, which means that Jesus has a higher wRC+ than Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, and Joey Votto.

2nd Base – Danny Descalso has only been known as a field first, hit last type of player during his long utility career. This year he changed that equation and has a wRC+ of 122 which is more impressive when you consider his best before this was 90.

3rd Base – Hey, here is Max Muncy. You know his story.

Shortstop – Eduardo Escobar wasn’t a complete loss at the plate before this year as he did post a 101 wRC+ once before but this year his 127 wRC+ is getting lost among the great hitting shortstops in baseball.

Outfield – Matt Adams is the only name I can use here. Matt had some good years for the Cardinals including a 135 wRC+, but that was way back in 2013 and in only 319 plate appearances. This year Matt has an wRC+ of 154 which ranks 6th for outfielders with at least 150 plate appearances.  Brandon Nimmo is having an outstanding year but I can’t call it a surprise because this is the first year he has ever gotten a good run. Rookies like Juan Soto don’t count.