A true breakout has been bubbling up for a while. Swanson managed a career-high 27 HR this year, but it came with just a 98 wRC+ as he hit just.
HOT TAKE: Dansby Swanson has the full breakout: 35 HR, 125+ wRC+. Keep an eye on these two and be ready to pounce when they get their next shot with the Braves. That is in line with his minor league work from a skills standpoint (25% K, 11% BB) with a better ERA as the lesser talent hasn’t made him pay for his command struggles as often. Muller showed flashes in his 36.7 IP (8 starts, 1 relief app.) with a 4.17 ERA/1.25 WHIP with his swing-and-miss ability on display (24% K, 13% SwStr) despite too many walks (13% BB). I actually like Muller a little more long-term, but Davidson might get the chance ahead of him being older and having better command and control right now. He has a three-pitch mix with heavy slider usage that hints at some strikeout upside (13% SwStr, but only a 22% K rate), too. He avoided the dreaded Tommy John surgery that often follows these forearm injuries and hopefully he is in the clear for ’22 and beyond. That said, teams obviously need more than five arms across an entire season so both will likely hit the majors at some point even if they both start at Triple-A.ĭavidson only made eight starts across MLB/Triple-A as well as an impromptu playoff appearance, but he was excellent in the four MLB starts before a forearm injury derailed the debut. And maybe neither if they sign someone or if Mike Soroka is ready to roll by Opening Day. I’m cheating with a duo here, but I wanted to mention both since it might only be one of them in the rotation to start 2022. OFF THE RADAR: Tucker Davidson/ Kyle Muller The 24-year-old misses bats (12% SwStr) and keeps the ball down (50% GB rate), a great foundation for an emerging star. He didn’t replicate that kind of production in his first full season, but it was a great building block campaign as he managed a 3.58 ERA/1.23 WHIP in 128.3 IP (and again dominated in the playoffs).
He had a 1.95 ERA/1.08 WHIP in 6 regular season starts and was even sharper in October with a 0.96 ERA/1.13 WHIP in 4 postseason starts. If healthy, his first 200-inning season should be on the horizon and if he is at or near the 2.84 ERA/1.09 WHIP we have seen since 2020, then a top 10 finish will come with it.Ī brilliant debut in 2020 definitely set the stage for 2021 hype as he was consistently taken in the Top 100. He had a 4.23 ERA across five starts, allowing 7 of his 13 ER in the 2nd innings of Game 5 in the NLCS and Game 2 in the World Series. He was pretty sharp in the playoffs, too, with a couple of rough 2nd innings being the only blips on his record. After a slow start and injury (11.45 ERA in 3 starts then a 3-week hamstring IL stint), he reeled off 154.7 innings of a 2.44 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.