5 Surprise Performers in the AL
Ronel Blanco of the Houston Astros (GettyImages)
5) MJ Melendez, KC Royals
MJ’s Royals teammate Salvador Perez gets a quick honorable mention here, hitting .333 with 15 RBI in 15 games so far this year. While that is very impressive for a guy who was seemingly losing the battle with father time, Melendez’s breakout is even more surprising to me. Melendez is a converted catcher with a .230 career average in about 1200 PA’s. The power is his calling card, with a .318 ISO so far in 2024. He only hit 16 HR in 2022 and 16 again in 2023, but he’s already got three in 13 games this year. 30 homers doesn’t seem out of the question now– perhaps the move to the outfield has allowed MJ to focus more on his hitting.
MJ Melendez Season Stats (Fangraphs)
4) Brady Singer, KC Royals
Singer had a solid 2022 campaign, but he was horrible last year, posting a 5.22 ERA. Very few folks outside of Kansas City were expecting a strong bounceback from Brady, but he’s got a 0.96 ERA in his first three starts this season. He went seven shutty with 10K against the Twins on March 31 in his first start, and only gave up one earnie against the formidable Astros lineup in his last start.
Brady Singer 2024 Game Log (Fangraphs)
3) Anthony Volpe, New York Yankees
Volpe won a Gold Glove in his rookie season of course, but he also hit .209 with 167 strikeouts. So far in 2024, he has a 1:1 BB:K ratio (14.8%), and he’s hitting .353. He’s already got five stolen bags and I’d be surprised if he didn’t steal 30 this year barring injury. If he maintains this level of contact at the MLB level in conjunction with his speed and defense, he’ll be a star in New York. He struck out in 27.8% of his PA’s last year, so anything under 24% would be a significant improvement.
Anthony Volpe Season Stats (Fangraphs)
2) Tyler O’Neill, Boston Red Sox
Tyler O’Neill set the MLB record this year on opening day, with a dinger on five consecutive opening days. He’s continued his hot start, with a ridiculous 1.124 OPS that sits behind only Josh Naylor in the American League. He’s got six bombs in only 13 games, signaling he’s still got that power that provided 34 homers for the Cards back in 2021. Tyler is a good fielder in both outfielder corners (23 career DRS, 12 OAA in LF), or center in a pinch, but he has struggled with durability these last few seasons. He was an unlikely candidate to play the star for Boston this April, but he’s easily been the most productive hitter on the club. He won’t hit 6 homers every month, but 30 homers isn’t out of the question if he can stay off the IL (he’s going through concussion protocol after the collision with Devers yesterday).
Tyler O’Neill Left Field Defense (Fangraphs)
1) Ronel Blanco, Houston Astros
Ronel was projected to be #6 or #7 on the depth chart for the Astros rotation, but he finds himself carrying his big league club early in the season. The no hitter on April 1 was magical, partially because it was against a playoff caliber offense in the Jays and partially because it was Blanco who pulled it off. He went another 6 innings in his second start without a hit, and set a record in the expansion era by recording 44 outs in a season before giving up a hit. As cool as this moment has been, this could be the top of the mountain for Blanco, who only really has a one plus pitch. His cutter is effective though and probably gives him a floor of middle reliever in the MLB, but I’m rooting for him to stick around in a big league rotation.
Ronel Blanco 2024 Game Log (Fangraphs)
https://www.mlb.com/news/ronel-blanco-loses-no-hit-bid-in-sixth-inning-of-astros-win
Stats are as of 04/14/2024