Breakout Watch: MLB Disappointments Ready to Explode
Every MLB season, a handful of players break out.
Sometimes we see them coming a mile away. Other times, their success comes on the heels of a decidedly disappointing campaign.
Let's focus on the latter group and highlight five players who fizzled in 2017, yet have shown signs in 2018 that they're taxiing on the runway to big league stardom.
Caleb Smith, LHP, Miami Marlins
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A 14th-round pick by the New York Yankees in 2013, Caleb Smith posted a 7.71 ERA in 18.2 innings for the Yanks last season.
This winter, New York shipped him to the Miami Marlins in a little-regarded trade for right-hander Michael King and $250,000 in international bonus pool money.
Through 13 starts with the Fish, Smith sports a 3.70 ERA and an eye-opening 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
He's also walked 30 in 65.2 innings. It's not time to anoint the almost-26-year-old an ace quite yet. He's showing signs, however, of being more of a pitcher than anyone expected.
Jorge Soler, RF, Kansas City Royals
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Despite battling rib and toe injuries, Jorge Soler is morphing into a difference-making power hitter.
Since breaking into the big leagues in 2014 with the Chicago Cubs, the 26-year-old Cuban has teased big power. He's also struggled with strikeouts and last season hit a scant .144 for the Kansas City Royals, who acquired him from the Cubs for closer Wade Davis.
So far in 2018, Soler has nine home runs in 58 games after shedding 20 pounds during the offseason. It took him 86 games to reach his career high of 12 in 2016.
Add his .832 OPS, and you're looking at a player who could soon join the ranks of MLB's elite sluggers provided he stays off the disabled list.
Mitch Haniger, RF, Seattle Mariners
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Mitch Haniger enjoyed modest success with the Seattle Mariners in 2017 with 16 home runs and an .843 OPS.
He was also limited to 96 games by injury. The expected breakout didn't materialize.
So far this season, Haniger has 13 home runs and 11 doubles in just 64 games. He's been an offensive cog for a Mariners team still reeling from the 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension slapped on second baseman and franchise cornerstone Robinson Cano.
"Everyone is just pulling together for each other," Haniger said on May 20, per TJ Cotterill of the News Tribune. "And with our lineup, we're never out of a game. I don't care what the score is."
He's been an invaluable part of that.
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Aaron Nola, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies
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After posting a 4.78 ERA in 20 starts in 2016, Aaron Nola lowered that figure to 3.54 in 27 starts in 2017 for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Still, as the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft, it didn't feel as though Nola was tapping his potential, especially considering that he posted a 4.23 ERA in 38.1 August innings.
So far in 2018, Nola is throwing like a legitimate No. 1.
The 25-year-old is 7-2 with a 2.35 ERA and ranks third in the Senior Circuit with 2.4 WAR by FanGraphs' measure.
He's entered the conversation as one of the best hurlers in the game. He's a solid dark-horse candidate for NL MVP honors.
Dansby Swanson, SS, Atlanta Braves
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Dansby Swanson did a face-plant in 2017.
The No. 1 overall pick in 2012, Swanson debuted with the Atlanta Braves in 2016 and hit .302 in a promising 38-game audition.
Last season, he hit .232 with a .636 OPS in 144 games. MLB stardom was put on hold.
Thus far in 2018, Swanson is hitting .266. He's already matched his home run total from 2017 with a half-dozen dingers.
A wrist injury sent him to the DL, but he's 9-for-28 with three doubles and two homers since June 3. On a Braves team laden with emerging stars, Swanson is carving his niche.
"You can be feeling good, but you'd be lying if you said you didn't get frustrated or whatever when you don't necessarily see the results," Swanson said, per MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "So, just seeing one fall or finding the barrel helps.
Indeed.
All statistics current as of Monday and courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.
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