One of these days, Jacob deGrom has to throw a no-hitter, right? It could be an award-worthy sort of combination. For three-quarters of the season this year, Tatis was the obvious MVP frontrunner before a late-season slump. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Here is a look at four other major leaguers looking to bounce back in 2021: Tampa, Fla.: New York Yankees starting pitcher right-hander Corey Kluber throwing against the [+] Toronto Blue Jays in the top of the second inning of a spring training game at the George M Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., on March 3, 2021. teammate and person could make him . The 2021 Major League Baseball season begins this week, and with it comes a new group of young players looking to make names for themselves in the majors. The As are happily rolling the dice to see what he might have left. RHP Chris Flexen. Posey, who announced his retirement earlier this month, opted out of the 2020 season for health and safety reasons. And baseball definitely was on the back burner when I was going through all that.. If he does manage to pull it off, though, he would become just the second player to do so. We were in unanimous agreement on five of the 10 awards, and there was a three-fourths agreement on four of the other five. The 30 club beat reporters from MLB.com selected the winners from an original list of 30 candidates (one per MLB club). Assuming Major League Baseball ends its lockout in time to actually have a season in 2022, more than a few stars will go in hoping to have a better year than they did in 2021.. Rather than talk . Nevertheless, Posey has been a fascinating comeback story. After winning the 2019 AL Rookie of the Year award, Alvarez played in just two games with the Houston Astros last season. FILE - Seattle Mariners' Mitch Haniger is congratulated and showered with sunflower seeds after his [+] solo home run against the Houston Astros in the third inning of a baseball game in Seattle, in this Tuesday, June 4, 2019, file photo. Hes still in the middle of this lineup, so hell have plenty of opportunities to rebound. But before the action really gets intense, Chloe Davey delivers her preview and tips for the season ahead. The more Alcantara refines his pitch arsenal, the closer he gets to stacking up with the usual suspects in the Cy Young Award conversations. Soto also recorded the highest rates by a qualified hitter since Barry Bonds in 2004 in on-base percentage (.490), slugging percentage (.695), OPS (1.185) and wRC+ (201). He started to turn it around in the postseason, and if he can return to his MVP-caliber self, sheesh, this lineup just shoots off into the stratosphere. Rockies: Ryan McMahon, 2BThe Rockies obviously feel comfortable betting on McMahon: They just gave him a sizeable contract extension, after all. Offensively, I would have been there also. I know there are other guys coming back from injuries, but to come back from [colon cancer] is amazing.. Orioles: Anthony Santander, OFSantander was a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland who was one of the happy stories of the Orioles 2020 season -- a year in which the Orioles were in second place a third of the way through the season! But that begs the question -- has he already returned, and can he still win? The D-backs acquired the right-hander from the Marlins at the 2019 Trade Deadline and he put up an ERA+ of 157 over eight starts down the stretch. Instead, Trevor Bauer won on the strength of 11 excellent starts. That crunch-time success wouldn't be all that noteworthy if the Mariners had one of the best closers in the big leagues, but they don't even have a closer. He usually gets one of those goals: He had an ERA under 2.70 every year from 2018-20. Net income. The Comeback Player of the Year Award was awarded by The Sporting News every season from 1965 to 2006, with one award given in each league every season. In the abbreviated 20 season, Martinez slashed .213/.291/.389 and was one of the least productive position players in the game. In his stead, Trevor Rogers has emerged as one of the best starting pitchers in the National League, rookie or otherwise. AFC Playoff Order Buffalo Bills Cincinnati Bengals Kansas City Chiefs Indianapolis Colts Los [] This is a BETA experience. Texas' Adolis Garcia is tied for fifth in the American League in home runs with 22. But if the Padres are going to overcome the loss of Fernando Tatis Jr., it may just have to start with that starting pitcher. The White Sox (-115) have leapfrogged the Twins (+140) as pre-season Central favorites, and there are several key questions the Twinkies have heading into the 2021 campaign. TWINS: Alex Kirilloff, AL Rookie of the Year. Not only that, but so little was expected of the Giants that 64 percent of the money bet on that line came in on the under. Comeback Player of the Year: Dak Prescott, QB Dallas Cowboys There is absolutely no doubt that Dak Prescott has had the best comeback performance of the year. Phillies: Didi Gregorius, SSThe Phillies signing of Gregorius looked like one of those tactical moves that would work out perfectly for them, and in 2020, you thought it might. The No. Guardians: Triston McKenzie, RHPHeading into last year, you wondered whether the lanky, powerful McKenzie was going to become the next Cleveland pitcher to come up through their system and turn himself into an ace. This was still one of the most promising starters in the game a couple of years ago. From 2016-2019, Mancini had a 162-game pace of 31 home runs, which is exactly where he's at this year with 16 dingers at the All-Star break. Still, he showed what a dominant force he could be with his one postseason start, when he allowed one run in six innings while striking out eight Padres in the Wild Card Series. Bleacher Report's panel of MLB scribesAbbey Mastracco, Joel Reuter, Zachary Rymer and myselfoffered up picks for Manager, Comeback Player, Rookie, Cy Young and MVP in each league from the first half of the season. Those gruesome numbers should be a distant memory by the time the 21 season ends. Perhaps Taillon, a hard worker and legitimate top-of-the-rotation pitcher in '18, will nab that award after tweaking his mechanics to protect his elbow. He has slashed .259/.315/.436 while hitting 12 home runs and driving in 53 RBIs. Mancini is among many players poised to make a run at Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2021. But it should be noted that he has never had an OPS+ above 98, so when you adjust for Coors Field, he has been a below-average hitter. And Manny Machado finished third in NL MVP voting in '20. The award debuted in 2005. Theres simply no way that his regular-season debut can match the stage and pressure of his first big league at-bat, when he not only became the first player to start in the postseason as his MLB debut since the World Series began in 1903, but he also stepped to the plate for the first time with two outs and the bases loaded in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against Houston. That worked well a year ago, when Burnes endured one of the worst seasons of any pitcher in baseball, with an 8.82 ERA in 49 innings in '19. Thats what Ill remember the most.. Factor in the injuries to starting pitchers Aaron Sanchez and Logan Webb, and it's rather astounding how successful this club has been. Odds have been released for the 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. Posey is only the second player to retire after being named Comeback Player of the Year since MLB first presented the award in 2005, along with Yankees closer Mariano Rivera after the 2013 season. Both had a good share of struggles, but Skubal showed flashes of potential, including six innings of two-hit, one-run ball with six strikeouts against the Twins in a Sept. 5 no-decision at Target Field. During the playoffs, Posey became the Giants' career postseason hits leader, with 57, and he's also played the most postseason games in franchise history, with 58. He had surgery to remove the tumor and went through six months of chemotherapy, returning for Spring Training 2021 cancer-free. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Five months later, he was on the field again, receiving a standing ovation at the Orioles Spring Training complex in Sarasota, Fla. But Rodon's excellent spring (13.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 16 K) coupled with a disastrous spring training for Lopez (11 ER in 11 IP) gave Rodonthe No. An MVP race likely is in his future. But I would rather bet on him for Comeback Player of the Year than MVP. The fact that he's doing this as the heart and soul of the team with the best record in baseball is like throwing gas on the comeback fire. He slugged .373 last year, which is roughly 300 points lower than his 2019 mark of .671. In '20, Gallen picked up right where he left off as he set the Major League record for most consecutive starts with three or fewer earned runs allowed to open a career when he stretched his streak to 23. Theres no telling what the 21-year-old shortstops ceiling is. Perhaps the most remarkable part is he has managed this team through a litany of injuries and absences. The White Sox dont necessarily need that guy, but somewhere in the middle would be a substantial improvement. Fellow core veterans Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford enjoyed resurgent seasons in '20 after working with the Giants new coaching staff, which brought fresh ideas and offensive philosophies in manager Gabe Kaplers first year in San Francisco. Dak Prescott (DAL) +170. Sixto Sanchez was supposed to be Miami's NL ROY candidate, but he has not pitched this season and has already undergone season-ending shoulder surgery. After some frustrating years, he bounced back well in his final year with the Red Sox in 2020, and the Brewers signed him hoping hed unlock some of that initial potential. The right-hander struck out 97 over 72 1/3 innings in 20 -- ranking second in the AL behind only Cy Young winner Shane Bieber -- after fanning 228 in 19. was originally selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Verlander and Pujols were named the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year Award winners in the American League and National League, respectively, by Major League Baseball. It's clear the 2010 first-round pick still has plenty left in the tank following his showing in 2022. You may opt-out by. What else does Cole have in the tank? Unfortunately, a lot of star players went down with serious injuries last year, but on the bright side, it's made for a fun and competitive CPOY race in 2021. The defense will always be there, but he was certainly thought, at the plate, to be more than this. Whether it was the long layoff because of coronavirus or the hangover from the sign-stealing scandal that seemed to permeate the club, Bregman will be looking to shake off a disappointing season in 21. He doesnt need to get any MVP votes, but rising somewhere back toward the middle would do wonders for this lineup. He had a 5.19 ERA in seven starts in 2019 before undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he had an unsightly 8.22 ERA in his limited 7.2 innings of work last season. Adalberto Mondesi, Royals. Arozarenas emergence with the Rays was one of baseballs greatest stories in 2020, as the 25-year-old set Major League postseason records in hits (29), home runs (10) and total bases (64).