At minimum, you did plenty of research in the offseason before putting that into motion with multiple drafts and are likely tracking the fluctuations on player performance and bidding on them from week to week with our FAB. So given all of this data we’ve bothered to comb through, nothing should surprise us, right? No one should seemingly come out of nowhere and just… happen, right? And yet, every year, they do. A couple years ago, it was Aristides Aquino. Earlier this year it was Yermin Mercedes. As for now, we’ll take a look at some guys who have come out of nowhere so far this season and what we can expect from them going forward.
Hyeon-Jong Yang
Yang didn’t exactly come from nowhere; Korea is certainly somewhere! After 2020’s dark time of zero American sports and KBO being the only baseball available, one could certainly make the argument that KBO was at the height of its popularity. Yet, Yang is not a household name here, and was roughly the equivalent of a southpaw version of Kyle Hendricks in Korea. Fun, certainly, and plenty of control/command, but not dominant. He was of course a starting pitcher in Korea and has only been used that way once thus far stateside, but the potential is there.
Going up against a dangerous Twins lineup on Wednesday that has a core that is especially tough on lefthanded pitching, Yang was not just dominant but otherworldly. He clearly was not built up to a starter’s workload, going only 3 1/3 innings, but struck out eight over that period, with his sole blemish a solo shot given up to Mitch Garver. And what quality southpaw doesn’t give up a dinger to Mitch Garver from time to time?
It’s hard to say where Yang will go from here, but it will almost certainly be rooted in opportunity. It’s not as though the Rangers have a bounty of starting pitchers to choose from, and it’s not as though Yang is particularly expensive (he’s pre-Arb) or a prospect (he’s 33), so the Rangers might as well let it fly. Korean lefties with immaculate control have a strong, if limited track record in MLB. Certainly, another iteration of a common theme in these parts, which is, “Hey, it’s the Rangers, what do they have to lose?” Yang is worth a flier in DFS if pricing refuses to increase, and in season long if he stretches out closer to a starters workload.
Huascar Ynoa
Another pitcher no one reasonably had expectations for going into to the season, Ynoa has taken the league by storm thus far, putting up a 29% K rate through six starts and stabilizing an otherwise surprisingly shaky Braves rotation.
Immediately of note is that this is Ynoa’s seventh professional season, and he is only 22-years-old (22!), so no one really knows who he is just yet. Even if his minor league profile suggests he isn’t going to continue to strike hitters out at this clip, it’s possible that his skill set is still improving, and combined with the league not fully having a scouting report on him, there’s plenty to like here.
We will have to be cognizant of the control issues that have popped up from time to time in his minor league career, as a double digit walk rate throughout the minor leagues is cause for concern and something to be monitored, but he hasn’t had any issues with that so far this year.
Will regression occur? It is almost guaranteed. With only a .225 BABIP thus far, to go along side an 87% left-on-base mark, Ynoa is using plenty of smoke and mirrors to supplement his talent. Partially, that’s fine, as that’s how you put up great numbers! But if are going out of our way to roster him in DFS or try to acquire him via FAAB or trade in DFS, we need to tread a little bit carefully due to what is yet to come, even though the body of work thus far has been stellar.
Robbie Grossman
This is cheating a little bit, as Grossman is obviously a well-established big leaguer. However, he is exhibiting a skill that previously has not been a large part of his game, which is some aggressiveness and acumen when it comes to base stealing, as well as a major uptick in his BB% which, if sustained, will help support a higher OBP.
Previously Grossman has not stolen more than nine bases in a full season, and even that he’s done only twice (in 2014 and again in 2019). So far in 2021, he’s managed to steal seven bases in only 31 games, putting him on pace to absolutely demolish his career best. What’s more, he’s done it without getting caught stealing once, which to me demonstrates (at least in this small sample) that this is more of a skill than an effect of sheer volume. I imagine it also helps that the Tigers offense is so bad that manufacturing runs is more appealing to them than more competent offenses.
About the BB%, there’s also a spike here, up to 18%. Grossman hasn’t hit a whole lot, or for much power, but there is certainly some hidden value in a guy who no one really thinks about that gets on base more than he used to and steals bases WAY more than he used to. For DFS purposes, he and the rest of the Tigers are often priced low enough that they can be used as salary savers to fit along side your more expensive stacks and individual hitters.
Mike Tauchman
Tauchman is also a name that people know, but he was buried on the Yankees depth chart and not expected to get enough playing time to really do much of anything until the Giants needed a quality lefthanded hitter in the outfield in the wake of Mike Yastrzemski’s injury, and just like that Tauchman became the strong side of a platoon. Rare is the hitter that is a better fantasy asset hitting in San Francisco than Yankee Stadium, but in Tauchman’s case the ample increase in opportunity far outweighs the downgrade in ballpark. What’s more, he’s been hitting in premium lineup spots, even leading off on occasion, which is a good sign for how highly Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler value their shiny new toy.
Even when Yastrzemski returns, Tauchman will still have a claim to a spot in an entirely left-handed outfield of Alex Dickerson, Yastrzemski and Tauchman, and while there will always be pinch hit risk, that would allow the Giants to regularly send up lefties at opposing starting pitching, ensuring optimal matchups and plenty of opportunities for Tauchman to contribute.
So while Tauchman hasn’t set the world on fire just yet, he is very much in the right opportunity to “come out of nowhere” before your competitors have had a chance to realize it.
