Leading Candidates For Comeback Player So Far In 2019

Milwaukee's Christian Yellich is picking up very much where he left off last season, when he won the Most Valuable Player Award in the National League. He is by far the front runner to claim it again, unlike his counterpart in the American League.

Mookie Betts has struggled so far in 2019, hitting more than one hundred points under his .346 batting average from last season. It has even reached the point where the Boston Red Sox, who have spent nearly all of the first month in the cellar of the A.L. East, have even considered trading him.

Betts could rebound to capture a second straight MVP selection, just as Jacob DeGromm of the New York could recover from a subpar start to snag another Cy a Young Award. His counterpart, Blake Snell, is on par to do just that as he has led the Tampa Bay Rays to the top of the A.L. East.

While any player can win successive MVP or Cy Young Awards, there are several trophies that cannot be acquired more than once. One of course is the Rookie of the Year award, and the other is for Comeback Player of the Year.

Already in the 2019 season, there have been numerous candidates in line for the latter award. Here are ten players who have shown early signs of recovering from down seasons.

1. Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs
After signing a lucrative contract with Chicago three years ago, Heyward has done little offensively for the Cubs. With that deal set to expire after the season, the outfielder has somehow found his stroke and his hitting .327.

2. Shin Soo Choo, Texas Rangers
He batted .285 with Cincinnati before signing with the Rangers six years ago, but he has not even once come within ten points of that wearing a Texas uniform. Twenty games into the 2019 year, though, he is hitting at a .319 clip and is once again a formidable leadoff hitter.

3. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
Granted, Miggy will not likely ever win another Triple Crown, but the 35 year old slugger has shown signs of both a healthy swing and a healthy body.

4. Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
He must have said to himself something along the lines of "You've got to change your evil ways baby" for after a miserable 2018 season in Philadelphia, Santana is batting .334 in his return to his old team in Cleveland.

5. Kolten Wong, St. Louis Cardinals
After several disappointing seasons, the second baseman has rediscovered the offensive talent that made him a first round draft pick back in 2011. Wong is hitting nearly fifty points higher than his .249 average from last year, and he has also demonstrated much improved power.

6. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
Now in his eleventh season as the Texas shortstop, Andrus is hitting over a hundred points higher than the .254 batting average he posted last year.

7. Domingo Santana, Seattle Mariners
After losing his starting spot to superstars Christian Yellich and Lorenzo Cain in Milwaukee, Santana has made the most of his starting opportunity with the first place Seattle Mariners.

8. Jung Ho Kang, Pittsburgh Pirates
His batting average is below the Mendoza line but, after having been out of baseball for for all but six games since 2016, the third baseman is flexing some of the power he showed during his first two years with the Pirates.

9. Josh Reddick, Houston Astros
His batting average dropped to .243 last year, marking a seventy point fall from what it was during Houston's World Series Championship season in 2017. He is currently hitting .339, a good sign for a lineup desperately in need of a left handed presence.

10. Marcus Stroman, Toronto Blue Jays
He had been the staff ace for several seasons, finishing 2017 with thirteen wins and a 3.09 earned run average. That last stat swelled all the way up to 5.54 last year, while the wins dwindled to four. This season so far, Stroman has a minuscule 1.76 ERA but has gotten little offensive support from the Toronto lineup.