MLB Players with Best Chance of Returning to Stardom After Lost 2014 Seasons
A star-caliber player suffering through a lost season might be the single biggest blow an MLB team can suffer, and without fail, there are always a handful of guys who fail to produce at the level expected of them for one reason or another.
Whether it's a matter of injuries keeping them on the sideline or nagging them throughout the season, or simply a dip in production from an otherwise steady performer, each year, some of the game's best come up short.
Sometimes, that can be a bigger sign of further decline to come, but other times, it's simply a bump in the road and the player returns to form the following year.
What follows is a look at five guys with the best chance of returning to stardom after lost 2014 seasons, based on their track record of success, age and overall outlook for the season ahead.
2B Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians
1 of 5
Arguably the Cleveland Indians' best player during their surprising run to the postseason in 2013, Jason Kipnis saw his numbers dip across the board during a disappointing 2014 campaign.
A .284/.366/.452 line with 36 doubles, 17 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 2013 earned him his first All-Star appearance, an 11th-place finish in AL MVP voting and a six-year, $52.5 million extension heading into the 2014 season.
However, he hit just .240/.310/.330 with 25 doubles, six home runs and 22 stolen bases this past season, and his WAR dropped from 5.9 to 0.9.
A strained oblique early in the season cost him 26 games, and perhaps rushing back from that injury and never getting fully healthy was the driving factor behind his offensive decline.
The Indians will be counting on him to rebound and again be a leader on their young roster. If he can return to his 2013 form, the trio of Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana and Kipnis could carry the Cleveland offense to another postseason appearance.
SP Derek Holland, Texas Rangers
2 of 5
A handful of Texas Rangers players were considered for this list, including Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo, but the guy who looks to be in the best position to turn in a big 2015 after a lost 2014 is left-hander Derek Holland.
A freak knee injury during the offseason led to microfracture surgery and wound up costing him all of spring training and the first 134 games of the regular season.
The Rangers were well out of the playoff picture by the time he returned Sept. 2, but his terrific performance over six starts and one relief appearance gave plenty of reason for optimism heading into 2015.
The 28-year-old went 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA, 1.054 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 37 innings of work, and with a fairly shaky back end of the rotation, the team will be counting on him to shoulder the load alongside ace Yu Darvish.
When healthy and pitching to his potential, Holland is capable of being one of the better left-handed starters in all of baseball, and he's still very much in the prime of his career.
3B Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
3 of 5
Just how good can Manny Machado be?
Believe it or not, he's six months younger than top MLB prospect Kris Bryant, and he already has 1,185 big league at-bats under his belt, so the sky is the limit on what Machado is capable of once he reaches his prime.
The one thing that could throw a wrench in his rise to stardom is injuries, as his past two seasons have been abruptly halted by season-ending knee injuries and subsequent surgeries.
After hitting .283/.314/.432 with 51 doubles and 14 home runs to finish ninth in AL MVP voting in 2013, Machado was actually on a more productive offensive pace in 2014. His OPS+ was up from 102 to 113, and he already had 12 home runs in 340 fewer at-bats than the previous season, but his season came to a screeching halt Aug. 11 when he injured his right knee on a swing.
It's hard to call him "injury prone" given the freak nature of both knee injuries he's suffered, and with a little better luck, there is no reason to think he can't stay on the field for a full slate of games in 2015.
If that's the case, another step forward offensively and fantastic defense once again at the hot corner should be expected from the 22-year-old.
.png?w=256)
SP Matt Harvey, New York Mets
4 of 5
After a strong showing over 10 starts in 2012, Matt Harvey took the baseball world by storm in 2013, quickly emerging as one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball.
However, his coming-out party was ruined when he suffered a UCL injury on Aug. 25 that eventually resulted in Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss the entire 2014 season.
Harvey was 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA, 0.931 WHIP and 191 strikeouts in 178.1 innings through 26 starts at the time of the injury, and that performance was still good enough to net him a fourth-place finish in NL Cy Young voting.
Now, after a season of patiently waiting from the sidelines and rehabbing his arm, he is set to once again take his place atop a New York Mets rotation that has a chance to be one of the best in baseball for years to come.
The Mets will do everything in their power to limit his innings and protect him in his first year back on the mound, and Harvey appears ready for whatever the team decides to do with him.
"You know what? I'm going to be happy to throw an entire year," Harvey told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. "Whatever they decide, it's in the best interests of both the team and me moving forward. I can't wait to throw every five days and just be healthy for a full season."
Even with some restrictions and rust to shake off, Harvey has the stuff to again be a star in his return to the mound in 2015.
1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
5 of 5
The 2014 season was an absolute disaster for the Cincinnati Reds offense as a whole, but Joey Votto in particular suffered through a season he would love to forget.
Limited to just 62 games while dealing with a pair of quad injuries and somewhat hobbled when he was on the field, Votto hit just .255/.390/.409 with six home runs and 23 RBI in 220 at-bats. Certainly disappointing production from a guy who was undoubtedly one of the most productive players in the game heading into the year.
His 25.5 WAR from 2010-13 was the fourth-highest total in all of baseball during that span, and he led the National League in on-base percentage all four years, with a ridiculous .434 mark over those four years.
Owed a whopping $213 million over the next nine years, the Reds desperately need the 31-year-old to return to superstar from in 2015 as they look to bounce back from a rough 76-86 showing and again contend for a playoff spot.
With an offseason of rest, the nagging quad injuries should be behind him, so he can again use his phenomenal plate discipline to be an offensive force.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference, unless otherwise noted.
.png?w=480)
