Now is the time of the year in the MLB season that everyone is watching the standings to see who is in line for a playoff spot, and who still has a chance to make a run at a playoff spot. In fantasy baseball owners are looking at the same thing. To get yourself into playoff position in fantasy you probably made a good pick in the first round and built a solid team around him, but sometimes it takes a little luck, and if you were lucky enough to snag any of these players who are having seasons that have surprised the experts then you may just be holding a fantasy championship in your future.
Chris Davis - Baltimore Orioles
There is no surprise that Davis is on this list. In standard formats in Yahoo fantasy leagues Davis is currently the second ranked player in the league behind superstar Miguel Cabrera. That is a huge jump for a guy who was ranked 121 in the offseason, which means Yahoo expected Davis to be taken in the 10th round of standard 12 team leagues. If you have Davis on your team, and took him anywhere later than the second round he was a steal.
Paul Goldschmidt - Arizona Diamondbacks
Goldy is not nearly the steal that Davis was, but he has played like the MVP of the National League, and if you managed to get him in the third round, where Yahoo had him going, you are probably ready to anoint him as the MVP of your fantasy team as well. Goldy is currently ranked sixth overall, and he is the fourth overall position player. He has worked hard this season to get his team into playoff contention, and while the DBacks may be on the outside looking in right now, if you have Goldschmidt on your team you’re probably looking at matchups for the playoffs already.
Patrick Corbin - Arizona Diamondbacks
Goldy isn’t the only player on the DBacks that has surprised the fantasy world by outperforming offseason ranks. Corbin has at times this season been the best pitcher in the league, and considering that he was originally ranked 343, a ranking so low that he wouldn’t have been drafted in standard 23 round drafts unless someone took a late shot at a sleeper. So if you were savvy enough to take a shot on Corbin in the final round of the draft, or picked him up early in the season when he was dominate, you got yourself the 20th overall players for practically nothing. Corbin has been a steal in every sense of the word.
Jean Segura - Milwaukee Brewers
Not only did the Brew Crew steal Segura from the Angels last season in the Zack Greinke trade if you drafted Segura you got a steal over everyone else in your league as well. Segura surprised everyone this season when he led the league in batting average for a good portion of the season, and is still batting over .300 and is currently ranked 18th overall. Before the season Segura was ranked 264th, or predicted to be drafted in the 22nd round of the draft. If you were smart enough to take a shot on Segura in the draft to be a solid back up at shortstop you are probably walking around like a genius on your way to the playoffs.
Kenley Jansen - Los Angeles Dodgers
What’s most surprising about Jansen is not that he is ranked as the third best closer in the league right now, but the fact that he is the third best closer after not starting the season as the closer. Honestly his offseason rank of 227 doesn’t mean much, because if you drafted Jansen you probably dropped him when he was put into the setup role to start the season. The real surprise is what he’s done since he was put back into that closer role. If Jansen is on your roster chances are you made a smart pickup when Jansen took over for Brandon League after League was very League like to start the season. This honestly shouldn’t have been a surprise after what Jansen did last season for the Dodgers, but with his injury history a lot of experts backed off of the right hander from the Netherlands, but they did, so his current ranking makes him one of the biggest surprises of the year.
Edward Mujica - St. Louis Cardinals
Mujica may be the most surprising players of the year because at the beginning of the season he was just another arm in Mike Matheny’s bullpen. After an injury to closer Jason Motte Mujica went from just another bullpen arm into one of the most efficient closers in fantasy baseball this season. Mujica was not drafted in standard leagues, and probably not drafted in any leagues unless you had an NL only league or 16 plus teams, but now he is the 58th ranked player overall, and the sixth best closer in fantasy baseball.
Starling Marte - Pittsburgh Pirates
Marte turned some heads last season when he got called up mid-season and really hit the cover off of the ball. The experts responded by ranking Marte as 212 in the offseason, good for the 17th round. All he has done this season is have a great all around season. With decent stats in just about every category he has not only shot up to the 29th ranked player overall, but is a top ten outfielder as well. If you took a shot on Marte you not only got a steal, but you have found a good young stud that can fill out the stat sheet.
Domonic Brown - Philadelphia Phillies
Brown went from being a borderline bust for the Phillies to being one of the most surprising fantasy outfielders of the year. Brown had not hit more than five home runs in a season, and no more than 26 runs batted in in a season. Which is why even a ranking of 253 might have been a bit high for Brown in the offseason. If you picked Brown in the draft, you probably had autodraft on, and now look like a genius. Brown is currently ranked 32nd overall, and much like Marte, is a top ten outfielder in standard rankings. With his 37 home runs and 78 runs batted in he is not only a surprise in fantasy baseball, but a surprise in all of baseball.
Matt Carpenter - St Louis Cardinals
Much like his teammate Mujica, Carpenter wasn’t thought of much when the season began. Carpenter was a solid utility guy for the Cards last season, but this season Carpenter has locked down the second base job. Carpenter’s good job filling in as the utility man last season not only earned him a chance to lock down the second base job, but it earned him a sixth place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year vote. While that was enough to convince the Cards it was not enough to convince the experts as they ranked him 311 in the offseason. Carpenter has shocked him all, though, by improving on his rookie stats, and currently sits as the 34th ranked player in fantasy baseball while leading off, and locking down second base for the playoff hunting Cards.
Hisashi Iwakuma - Seattle Mariners
Iwakuma entered the rotation in the second half of the season in 2012, and turned his season around. In his second MLB season Iwakuma continued where he left off, and matched fellow ace Felix Hernandez start for start in the first half of the season, and earned himself a spot in the All-Star Game. Even knowing that Iwakuma had a dominante second half after moving into the rotation in 2012, he was ranked at 283 in the offseason, which would put him in the final round of standard 23 round drafts. This shouldn’t have been a surprise when you look at last season, but thanks to the experts ranks Iwakuma is by far the most surprising starting pitcher of the season. Currently ranked 27th overall Iwakuma is ranked higher than fantasy studs Cliff Lee, Stephen Strasburg and Chris Sale who were all taken in the second through fifth rounds on average to be the top arm in fantasy rotations. Iwakuma has come back to earth a little in the second half, but he is still outperforming some of the biggest fantasy studs at his position making him by far the biggest surprise of the season.