9 Players Who Will Shape the 2018 Season - By: Jake Reagan
The 2018 MLB season has a chance to be the most exciting one in a while. There are several “super-teams” sprinkled across divisions, evidently taking a cue from the NBA, top prospects were just putting on laser shows in Spring Training and there are demigods like Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw who have forced the talking heads of the sport to attach the prefix of “possibly the greatest _____ of all time” with such regularity that it seems completely foreign that anyone every called them mister.
What may be more enthralling than these typical headlines, is that the future of the sport is here. This season, there is a group of players which will shape the narrative of baseball for years to come, and become the next generation. If free agency this offseason had one important lesson to teach, it’s that the “way things were always done,” is from here on, no longer the way. So, here are nine players to get excited about as they mold the future of the game, this year.
Shohei Ohtani is the painfully clear choice for the first member of this list. Not only is Ohtani listed as the number one prospect by MLB Pipeline, he is also only 23 years old and will be a starter for the Los Angeles Angels this year. Oh, what’s that? Where will he be starting? Excellent question; shocked it needs to be asked but glad it was. Ohtani received so much attention not just because he can do this (take the twenty-two minutes and forty-six seconds to watch, it’s worth it), but also because he will be pitching and hitting for his club after spending no time in the American minors. When, and if, Ohtani will be serving as a DH and/or outfielder between his pitching outings is yet to be determined.
The implications here clearly impact the future of the game; is it possible for a player to pitch and hit if his name isn’t Babe Ruth? There is absolutely no question that the kid has the talent to do whatever he wants on a diamond. His performance this year will indicate whether he can do everything he wants, all at the same time.
J.T. Realmuto might be the happiest he’s ever been to have a mask to hide behind, this year. The lone major league talent left on what barely can still be called the Miami Marlins, other than Justin Bour, is an absolute stud at the plate and he is only 27 years old. Nostradamus might predict J.T. won’t finish the year in South Florida due to the offseason Exodus of any player worth watching and his repeated pleas to be traded.
In 2017, Realmuto finished behind perennial All-Star, Buster Posey, in batting average for catchers. J.T. hit .278 with a .332 OBP, and a slugging percentage of .451, both finished third in the MLB, behind only Posey and Gary Sanchez. Not to mention, he smacked 17 home runs while playing home games in the mammoth that is Marlins Park. Here’s the last number in this section so this doesn’t sound like too much like an article written by math geek. Realmuto’s WAR was 3.6, good for fourth in the league amongst catchers, and an entire win better than his 2016 WAR. This guy is primed for a breakout year, and will do so in a much more public eye after he escapes Jeter’s 2nd Layer of Hell.
Cody Bellinger won over the hearts and minds of baseball fans everywhere. Going from the Little League World Series, to the Major League World Series is a sure way to get a Tom Rinaldi-esque story complete with video montages and jangly guitar music that tugs at the heart strings. Cody decided to add 39 bombs in only 132 games to his story. Along with a WAR of 4.2, and an NL Rookie of the Year award to go with his NL Pennant, he’s also only 22 years old. This kid is part of the somewhat infuriating youth and depth movement of the Los Angeles Dodgers. These smart SOB’s (sorry mom) have figured out how to harbor greatness like Kershaw and Jansen, while churning out young talent at the same time. Lots and lots of cash might have something to do with it.
Little convincing needs to be done as to why Bellinger is great and fun to watch, but the reason he’ll be interesting this year is, that he will either stamp his ticket to be on the first choo-choo train of future MLB superstars, or his Postseason performance of .219/.254/.453 in 67 plate appearances will loom over him in the 2018 season. Recent history has shown us that the Dodgers don’t care much what the name on the back of the jersey says if there’s no production (sorry A-Gon).
Why in the world is a guy like Scott Kingery on this list? Before this year, he’s yet to be on the field in the Big Leagues for a single out! Well, there are 6 (possibly 9) years and 24 (possibly 66) million reasons why. Mr. Kingery went ahead and inked the dotted line with the Phillies with just about a week left in Spring Training. Obviously, this was just a move to insure his spot on the Opening Day roster because the kid just loves to ball, right?
Wrong.
Kingery may well be the model for years to come in the contract world. Sure, he blew evaluators away this spring, and only spent three months with the AAA Ironpigs (‘sup Lehigh Valley) because he’s so stinking good at this sport, but that wasn’t completely what earned him the fancy piece of paper that will make sure his family never has to work again.
Scott is incredibly talented, and the Phillies recognized that. So, they locked him up, taking away what used to be incredibly valuable free agent years, that, until this last offseason, was the promised land for many players. Many agents are very concerned that teams will use the anxiety amongst players, that was generated by the abysmal free agent market this year, to get deals like Kingery’s done. Well, they may just be right. If Kingery, in his super utility Benny Zobrist role, crushes it, or even is a suitable piece of a still-rebuilding Phillies squad, he could be the poster boy for the new normal, which wouldn’t be so bad. Just look at that smile.
Kris Bryant is hitting at career average of .288 with an OPS of .915. His career WAR is 19.7 in just three seasons and he’s 26 for goodness sake. He’s had two MVP caliber seasons in a row. If any more evidence as to why this kid is the future of the game is needed, more education on what being good at baseball means is needed as well. Next.
Manny Machado might not seem like a guy who will be the future of the game, because he seems like the present. That’s only because he’s been in the league for six years already and is only 25. This guy has wrapped up three All-Star bids and two Gold Gloves, all playing third base. Now Manny, who at this point is beginning to seem like the Lebron of Baltimore, is moving to shortstop, his natural position all throughout the minors. There initially was concern, which given last year’s numbers dip, may have been warranted. Machado played a considerable chunk of games at short to fill in for an injured J.J. Hardy. As a result, his offense suffered due to the increased physical demand of playing short. However, reports have been pouring out of O’s camp all Spring Training that Manny is ready to rumble. That, compounded with the fact that this is the last year of his contract, and the O’s have about as much of a vision for the future as Stevie Wonder in a coal mine, seems to be a perfect recipe for a motivated Manny.
Rhys Hoskins was downright mean to pitchers and the baseballs they threw when he broke into the Bigs in early August of last year. In just 170 at-bats last season, he smacked 18 balls over the wall, earning himself an OPS of 1.014. Nobody is going to claim that Rhys is on track to hit 80 dingers in his sophomore campaign, but his impressive showing last year made him the new face of the Phillies. Which many casual fans may have forgotten, are an extremely large market team on the East Coast. Earlier in the article, Scott Kingery was mentioned. He and Hoskins, along with Aaron Nola, Carlos Santana and newly acquired Jake Arrieta, will do their very best to make the Phillies an incredibly interesting young team to watch this year and they will do so with Hoskins at the helm. The maturity and poise he showed last season amid his homerun hype is even more impressive when his age is mentioned, he only turned 25 during Spring Training.
Ronald Acuna is the second player on this list who has yet to crack the Majors, and the only player who was not on an Opening Day roster. Why then, is he on this list at all? Well, this.
Aside from Ohtani, who, really, is only considered a prospect due to his lack of any MLB games before the year began, Acuna is the top prospect in baseball. There is no question that he will be up with the Atlanta Braves at some point this season, possibly sooner than later. During Spring Training, this 20-year-old hit .432/.519/.727. For those who like math but don’t want to do addition, that’s a 1.247 OPS over the course of 52 plate appearances. Okay, sure it’s spring ball. A bigger sample size shows that in the Minors, Acuna hit .310/.378/.488 over the course of 1210 plate appearances. Bobby DeMuro of Baseball Census said about Acuna, “A legitimate five-tool player who has the potential to be a big league superstar beginning in 2018…”
The stats aren’t there quite yet to show how incredibly talented this kid is, but they will be. Not a bad idea to add to a keeper fantasy league now before the secret is out.
Bryce Harper, ever heard of him? There is little to no need to go through all the reasons why Harper is impacting the state of the game right now. The only number needed to convince anyone that this year will affect the shape of the MLB going forward is the number, one. That is how many years are left on the contract of Harper. Did last year’s free agent market stink? Historically so. Was there, or has there ever been a 25-year-old on the open market as good as Bryce Harper? Most certainly not. His body of work speaks for itself but, expect a monster season out of Bryce as the championship window in Washington begins to close, and free agency looms.