Every March, I post a list of players who I think are primed for significant upticks in performance for the coming MLB season. These are players who already have lost their rookie status but either haven't performed at all in the majors or perhaps just haven't lived up to expectations. I ranked prospects based on their expected 2019 impact in early February, so I've excluded those players from this list.
Last year's list was ... not great, Bob. American League Cy Young winner Blake Snell was my best pick, and Xander Bogaerts also did what I hoped he'd do in a healthy, full season. I still think some of those guys are good breakout candidates for 2019 -- Max Kepler for sure, Nomar Mazara again, Byron Buxton forever, Lucas Giolito now that he's healthy and has his velocity back -- but for this column I'll stick with new names.
