You Need to get Familiar with these MLB players

No, I'm not talking about Mike Trout, Fernando Tatis Jr, or Ronald Acuña Jr.

Considering the Major League Baseball season is a little over two months in, sample sizes are much more feasible in evaluating which players are having good seasons and which aren’t.

Superstars Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Mookie Betts are acting like their usual selves — hitting the cover off the baseball. It’s no surprise.

But who are some of these unusual names gracing top statistical categories on FanGraphs and Baseball Savant?

Isaac Paredes, 3B, Rays

Paredes burst onto the scene in 2022, as the Rays were given credit once again for fleecing a trade. This time, they sold high on homegrown Austin Meadows and received the young third baseman from Detroit back in April of ‘22.

The 25-year-old began making a name for himself in 2023, accumulating a 4.3 fWAR, along with 31 home runs, 98 runs batted in, and 137 weighted runs created plus.

Despite these great numbers, the Wander Franco fiasco last summer overshadowed many juvenile Rays who did what’s expected of them once reaching Tampa Bay: break out.

Paredes has been a consistent force in Kevin Cash’s lineup since heading south. He is currently 19th in fWAR across all qualified hitters, already amassing 2.2 before the official start of summer.

The third baseman is posting a career-high 153 wRC+ and has laced 10 HR. I wouldn’t be shocked if he was suiting up for the All-Star game come July.

Josh Smith, 3B, Rangers

After last year’s rookie sensation, Josh Jung, went down with a broken wrist at the end of April, Texas needed help at the hot corner. Enter Josh Smith.

Smith had cups of coffee in the Bigs during 2022 and 2023, but never performed exceptionally, as he was consistently a below-average hitter across his first 163 contests.

In 2024, he has been anything but that. Smith has driven in 22 runs while hitting 3 homers. The LSU product has a 1.4 fWAR and a 127 wRC+.

For someone who couldn’t hit over the Mendoza line during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Smith is hitting .281 and getting on base at an impressive .370 clip. He looks extremely comfortable in his third MLB season.

The youngster is taking advantage of what could have been a vacant hole in the Rangers’ lineup when Jung went down.

Brice Turang, INF, Brewers

I slept on Turang. Big time.

To be fair, the Brewers infielder had a sluggish rookie campaign in 2023, where his OPS+ was 60 — an entire 40 points below the league average.

Turang is turning heads quickly this spring, as he has emerged as a dangerous top-of-the-order bat for skipper Pat Murphy.

He’s hitting .298 with 3 HR, 21 RBI, with 12 doubles. Most impressively, he’s 20-for-21 on stolen base attempts in 2024, currently tied for second in all of baseball in the category.

The increase in doubles shows that Turang is now driving the ball, and it’s helped increase his OPS from last year from a dismal .585 to a now healthy .773.

These players put in the work this offseason, propelling themselves to great starts to their 2024 campaign!