MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 10 Tyler Glasnow, Tampa Bay Rays
While he's not fully an under-the-radar player, coming off his eighth year in the league, Tyler Glasnow could surprise many this postseason if the Rays make it far.
He has struggled in the postseason before, but in 2022, he started Game 2 of the Wild Card vs. the Guardians and pitched five shutout innings, only giving up two hits. The Rays went on to lose the game, getting eliminated from the playoffs with the score of 1-0 in the 15th inning.
Glasnow has only started 18 games with the Rays so far in 2023 and has surprised many with a record of 9-5, while also pitching to an ERA of 3.15 in 105.2 innings. He hasn't stayed healthy since joining the Rays, only pitching 374 innings in 6 seasons.
At age 30 and with one year left on his contract, if he shows off this postseason, he could get a new extension.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 9 Joey Wiemer, Milwaukee Brewers
Joey Wiemer is a rookie with the Milwaukee Brewers. While he won't win Rookie of the Year, he's shown his ability to be an above-average defender but has struggled offensively.
He's played in 130 games with the Brewers, hitting .204 with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs.
OPS+ is a metric that ranks the average hitter at 100. Wiemer's OPS+ is currently sitting at 75, meaning the league average hitter is 25 percent better than him. However, in high-leverage situations, he hits his best, batting .221 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 68 at-bats.
When you need someone to come up in the clutch, he seems to always be ready. That skill couldn't be more valuable in the postseason.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 8 Sal Frelick, Milwaukee Brewers
Sal Frelick is another rookie with the Milwaukee Brewers, he also plays the outfield like Wiemer but is in right field.
In 2022, with the Minor League affiliates of the Brewers, he hit 11 home runs and collected 59 RBIs to add to his .331 average and .403 OBP.
Unlike many rookies, since debuting and only playing in 43 games, he has shown his abilities by hitting .252 with 3 home runs and 21 RBIs, along with 25 walks to 30 strikeouts, making his OBP .363. He has an OPS+ of 103 while also being a good defensive player.
This postseason he could be a threat to many teams with his ability to reach base often, I would not be surprised if the Brewers go far in the postseason if he is hitting well.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 7 James Outman, Los Angeles Dodgers
After the Los Angeles Dodgers parted ways with Cody Bellinger, they gave the centerfield position to long-time prospect James Outman, who has proved to them he was the right decision. He won't win Rookie of the Year because of players like Corbin Carroll but should still get some votes.
He has played in 136 games, hitting 19 home runs and recording 64 RBIs to add to his .248 average. He's not afraid to get hit by the pitch if it means taking the base, getting hit 11 times while also walking 64 to create over .100 more OBP points.
His average is .248, which by itself is good, but his OBP of .357 is quite impressive for a power-hitting rookie. He has an OPS+ of 111.
While he isn't a Cody Bellinger type of defender, he is still above-average defensively while helping the Dodgers, after losing many players, still look like top-tier contenders.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 6 Josh Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
Josh Lowe has been a very underrated player in MLB since he plays with the Tampa Bay Rays, but he has started to make a name for himself as a power-hitting right fielder who also happens to be the brother of Texas Rangers' player Nathaniel Lowe.
Both brothers share similarities when it comes to hitting, but Nathaniel plays first base. In 2023, Josh Lowe has played in 123 games, in which he is hitting .282 with 18 home runs and 75 RBIs, but he rarely walks, leading to an OBP of just .323.
He's been one of the most surprising players in 2023, finally showing some of his potential with an OPS+ of 120 while still being able to grow as a player. He may seem like the power-hitter but is missing many key attributes, one is that he doesn't hit the ball hard, and his exit velocity is on the same level as many contact-hitters, not power-hitters.
The main reason he is on this list is that when it counts most in high-leverage situations, he's been hitting like an MVP. In 80 at-bats, he's hitting .325 with 4 home runs and 39 RBIs, with an OPS+ of 154, meaning in the biggest situations, he's 54 percent better than the average player.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 5 Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles
Kyle Bradish has caught the eye of many for years but has finally been showing the type of skill he's been hiding. His record is 11-7 with a 3.12 ERA.
Many would think his best pitch would be a 4-seam fastball, but that isn't the case; it's the exact opposite, being his worst pitch. After noticing that his 4-seam fastball was costing him dearly, he cut its usage rate year over year from 44.5 to 23.5 percent. His most dominant pitch could either be his slider or curveball with 30.5 and 17.4 percent usage, respectively.
Against his slider, batters are hitting .184, whiffing at the pitch 35.9 percent of the time, leading to a 35.1 percent strikeout rate when it ends in an out. The curveball is even more deadly with an average against of .153, with a 34.7 whiff rate and a 34.1 strikeout rate. He also has a sinker and changeup that, depending on when he throws it, are around league average if not a little above.
Bradish has been one of the best pitchers in 2023, and not many even know who he is, but this postseason he could make a name for himself if the Baltimore Orioles can make it far.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 4 Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers
Bobby Miller, now at age 24 with the Dodgers, still has much room to improve. While he hasn't impressed as much as Kyle Bradish in 2023, he holds much more potential for growth.
Miller was drafted with the 29th overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft and has shown his potential. He is currently holding a 9-3 record along with a 3.98 ERA in 101.2 Innings and 18 games with the Dodgers.
He may be young, but he is one of the fastest-throwing starting pitchers in MLB today with an average fastball at 99.1 mph, a sinker at 98.8 mph, and holding a slider at 90.1 mph. He's thrown six pitch types in 2023, throwing batters off with his sweeper, 4-seam fastball, sinker, curveball, slider and changeup.
Once he puts everything together, he could win a Cy Young Award. He's able to grow faster than other prospects because of the system he's in, but also because he has role models like Clayton Kershaw.
If LA makes a deep postseason run, I would expect him to make a major splash as a key player in the Dodgers' rotation.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 3 Edouard Julien, Minnesota Twins
Edouard Julien would be considered a possible Rookie of the Year candidate had he played in more games, but his rookie season has been nothing but impressive from a former 18th-round pick in 2019.
In just 95 games, he has slugged 13 home runs and brought in 27 RBIs, while also hitting .270 with a .382 OBP. He's been one of the best hitters on this list with an OPS+ of 130.
He has the makings of being one of the best hitters if he can start to hit the ball harder because he often barrels the ball while being one of the best sweet-spot hitters in all of MLB. He's also been excelling massively at walking, rarely chasing the ball, and having a walk rate of 15 percent, which is in the top three percent of all of MLB. He has struggled against breaking balls but has thrived against off-speed and fastballs.
He's been one of the best fastball hitters in 2023 with an average of .327 in 126 plate appearances. He has the potential to be a huge player in the postseason but has struggled in high-leverage situations, but has been one of the best in low-leverage situations with a .315 average, which includes nine home runs and 13 RBIs with an OPS+ of 166.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 2 Yainer Diaz, Houston Astros
In 2021, Cleveland traded Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton to the Houston Astros in return for Myles Straw. The trade wasn't too bad until this season when Yainer finally started playing, and Phil Maton started to break out. Now, it's looking like another trade failure for the Guardians.
Diaz is only 24 years old and hasn't played too much in the majors yet. He plays first base and catcher and serves as a designated hitter.
It has sometimes been hard for him to find time at catcher because of Martin Maldonado, but with his contract ending this season, it seems likely Diaz will become the full-time catcher.
In 95 games, Diaz has hit 21 home runs and brought in 56 RBIs while also batting .286 with an OBP of .309 and an OPS+ of 127. He fits the mold of a power-hitting catcher but can also hit for contact, along with being one of the best defensive catchers.
Compared to the average catcher, he's a better hitter, along with having a Blocks Above Average of eight, a Caught Stolen Above Average at five, and a Pop Time of 1.90. While he isn't good at framing the ball, that won't matter much with the rumors of a possible Robot Umpire.
MLB Postseason breakout candidate: No. 1 Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins
Royce Lewis has been the best rookie in the 2023 season, but he won't win the Rookie of the Year award because he's only played in 53 games. Some people have compared him to another Minnesota Twins player Byron Buxton because both of them are generational talents but can't seem to stay healthy.
Lewis has played in 53 games and has hit .300 with 13 home runs and 46 RBIs. In just eight recent games, he hit three grand slams, most of which came in high-leverage situations.
That explains the next fact, which is he has probably been the best hitter in high-leverage situations. He has 47 plate appearances in high-leverage situations and holds a .383 batting average with six home runs and 27 RBIs. He has also walked five times and struck out nine times, leading to an OBP of .442 and an OPS of 1.208.
His OPS+ in high-leverage situations is sitting at a mind-boggling 217, meaning if you need him in the clutch, he is more than two times better than the average hitter.
Lewis is such a unique player, it's kind of hard to explain, but he is going to be the next big player on a stacked Twins team that I could see being a serious threat to top teams this postseason.
