As I was walking through the office Wednesday, one of the newsroom editors stopped to ask if I could guess who was the highest-scoring batter in his Fantasy league? Figuring it wasn't one of the usual suspects, my interest was piqued.
I tried racking my brain for the answer, but didn't come up with the right player. The correct answer was Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, who surprisingly in most leagues is near the top of leaderboard.
So that got me thinking about which players have been the biggest surprises in Fantasy leagues thus far. Here is the list I've compiled. It's one player at each position -- except for three outfielders and five starting pitchers.
- Catcher: Devin Mesoraco
- First Base: Justin Morneau
- Second Base: Dee Gordon
- Third Base: Trevor Plouffe
- Shortstop: Alexei Ramirez
- Outfielders: Blackmon, Michael Brantley, Melky Cabrera
- Starting Pitchers: Mark Buehrle, Jason Hammel, Aaron Harang, Jason Vargas, Zach McAllister
- Relief Pitcher: Huston Street
- DH: Chris Colabello
These types of lists always spark interesting conversations, so feel free to share your thoughts below on early season surprises and anyone you think who should be on this list.