Who Are These Guys?

It’s not exactly an action packed sports weekend going on. Hockey playoffs. Hockey draft. Over. Basketball playoffs. Their draft. Over. Football season. Not happening yet. Pro and college football. It’s still the off season. Golf. U.S. Open was last week, with British Open upcoming. Even tennis is in between the French Open and Wimbledon.

Yawwwnnnnn.

Looks like all you have going for you is America’s ntional pastime. So, we will talk about baseball. In fact, even college baseball just finished its season, so what we will talk about is Major League Baseball.

There are some old guard stars that nearly everyone has heard about, and most of these are doing pretty well. Albert Pujols, Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Trout (even though he’s young, he’s all over the place on TV commercials), Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez, Felix Hernandez, Max Scherzer, Joey Votto.

But this article is to talk about some of the “new” stars that some people (non-fantasy players), who don’t really follow baseball that closely, have MAYBE not heard that much about. We are talking about guys that are, at least statistically, some of the BEST players in baseball. You might even have heard of their names as being “pretty good baseball players,” but we hope to show you just how good some of these guys really are.

Paul Goldschmidt is a power hitting 1st baseman from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Two years ago, he had a monster season with 30+ home runs, 100+ RBI’s, 100+ runs scored and somewhere close to a .300 average. Last year, he was on pace for another really good year, then got injured for the season when he got hit on the wrist by a pitch. This year, he’s back at the same 30 – 100 – 100 pace and his batting average is almost .350. He is not just a really good player anymore, he’s a true power hitting superstar that the rest of the baseball world is just now starting to realize.

Jason Kipnis is a 2nd baseman from the Cleveland Indians who was always a highly regarded prospect, who, for the three last years was a 30 stolen bases a year man, solid top of the order man. This year, he has erupted to being a .350 hitter who is also on pace to score 100+ runs, and is cementing himself as an all-star for many years to come.

Jose Altuve is a Houston Astro 2nd baseman who is a baseball marvel playing the game at only 5′ 5″ tall. He led the American League in hitting last season with a .341 batting average, with 225 total hits and 56 stolen bases. He is hitting near .300 again this year and is one of the prime reasons Houston is leading the American League West Division half way through the season.

Jacob DeGrom was the Rookie Pitcher of the Year in the National League last year with a 9 and 6 record and a 2.69 ERA. He is throwing even better this year, with a 2.15 ERA, a strike out per inning ratio and is throwing a fastball that looks like it could go through a brick wall. He looks like he could be a stud pitcher in the National League for years to come (although every pitcher these days is a risk to throw out his arm and need Tommy John surgery).

Nolan Arenado is a 3rd baseman for the Colorado Rockies that has simply blossomed this year. He is on a pace to hit about 40 home runs and 100+ RBI’s. If Colorado wasn’t such a bad team, he would be a threat to be the MVP of the league this year. He is now one of the most feared hitters in baseball now. Especially when he’s playing at home.

Billy Hamilton is a speed demon outfielder from the Cincinnati Reds. When he was a minor leaguer, he stole as many as 155 bases in one season. Legend has it that he is so fast he has scored from second base on a sacrifice fly. On the Reds, he is baseball’s fastest player, and a threat to steal not only bases but runs every time he gets on base. He is on pace for about 80 or so steals this year. If they let him run completely free, he could steal a hundred.

Anthony Rizzo is a first baseman on the Cubs that used to be a highly regarded prospect for the San Diego Padres. The Padres traded him away to the Cubs because they thought some other prospect would be better. Big mistake. The Cubs have themselves a .300 hitting, 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI star (stats from last year) and is hitting at pretty much the same pace this year. He’ll be a perennial All Star for the rest of the decade. The Padres GM that traded Rizzo, he’s fired.

Next all star game, watch how many of these guys make the team. And watch out for them in further years. There are some new sheriffs in town.