There are 14 new gamers up for election to the Corridor of Fame this yr, and whereas they will not all find yourself in Cooperstown, every had a minimum of one Corridor of Fame-quality season.
Some will definitely get in — as quickly as this yr — and for others, this may increasingly find yourself being their solely yr on the poll as a result of they will not obtain the required 5 p.c of votes to stay round. Both approach, it is a excellent likelihood to have a good time the height season for every of this yr’s HOF poll newcomers.
Carlos González2010 (Rockies): .336/.376/.598, .974 OPS, 34 HR, 117 RBIs, 26 SB
CarGo’s first full season was additionally unquestionably his finest. A 24-year-old budding celebrity in 2010, González hit .336 with a .376 on-base share and a .598 slugging share — every of which held up as his finest single-season mark over his 12-year profession. His 117 RBIs and 26 stolen bases have been additionally profession bests whereas his 34-homer season was topped solely by his 40-homer marketing campaign in 2015. Together with profitable each a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in 2010, González completed third in NL MVP voting behind solely Joey Votto and Albert Pujols.
Curtis Granderson2011 (Yankees): .262/.364/.552, .916 OPS, 41 HR, 119 RBIs, 136 runs, 25 SB
Granderson logged profession highs in slugging share (.552), OPS (.916), OPS+ (142), runs (136) and RBIs (119) in 2011. His 41 homers have been simply two shy of the career-best 43 he hit one season later, and he additionally racked up 25 stolen bases on his strategy to profitable his lone Silver Slugger Award and ending fourth in AL MVP voting.
Félix Hernández2014 (Mariners): 15-6, 2.14 ERA, 248 strikeouts
No person will blame you in the event you decide King Félix’s 2012 season wherein he not solely tossed 5 shutouts, however a kind of outings accounted for one of many 24 excellent video games in MLB historical past. Or if you wish to roll along with his ’14 marketing campaign wherein he posted a 2.27 ERA whereas logging a career-best 249 2/3 innings on his strategy to profitable the AL Cy Younger Award. However we’ll go along with his ’14 season, when he put up profession bests in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP (0.92) regardless of ending a detailed second to Corey Kluber in AL Cy Younger voting.
Adam Jones2012 (Orioles): .287/.334/.505, .839 OPS, 32 HR, 82 RBIs, 16 SB
Jones’ 2012 and ’13 seasons have been nearly interchangeable. He adopted up his 32-homer, 16-steal season in 2012 by hitting 33 dwelling runs with 14 stolen bases in ’13. He noticed a giant bounce in RBIs, driving in a career-high 108 in ’13, however his OPS dipped a bit to .811. Jones additionally received a Gold Glove in every of these two seasons whereas taking part in all 162 video games in ’12 and 160 video games in ’13. Take your decide, however we give the slight edge to 2012.
Ian Kinsler2011 (Rangers): .255/.355/.477, .832 OPS, 32 HR, 30 SB, 77 RBIs
Kinsler was a four-time All-Star, however his finest efficiency arguably got here throughout a non-All-Star 2011 season. He put up a career-best 32 dwelling runs as a part of a 30-30 marketing campaign on his strategy to ending eleventh in AL MVP voting. Kinsler’s 7.0 bWAR additionally held up his finest single-season mark over his 14-year profession.
Russell Martin2007 (Dodgers): .293/.374/.469, .843 OPS, 19 HR, 87 RBIs, 21 SB
Martin did all of it in his 2007 breakout season for the Dodgers, hitting .293 with 19 dwelling runs, 21 stolen bases and an .843 OPS — all whereas profitable his solely Gold Glove Award. Although he was a four-time All-Star and earned a share of MVP votes in 2013, ’14 and ’15, Martin’s ’07 marketing campaign held up as his single-season bests in batting common, OPS, extra-base hits, stolen bases and RBIs.
Brian McCann2006 (Braves): .333/.388/.572, .961 OPS, 24 HR, 93 RBIs
A seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger, McCann had fairly a number of seasons to take into consideration. The nod right here, although, goes to his first full large league season in 2006. The catcher hit .333 with a .388 on-base share and a .572 slugging share — all of which held up as private bests over his 15-year profession.
Dustin Pedroia2008 (Crimson Sox): .326/.376/.493, .869 OPS, 17 HR, 54 doubles, 213 hits, 118 runs
Pedroia adopted up his 2007 AL Rookie of the Yr season with a dominant MVP marketing campaign in ’08. Simply 24 years previous on the time, the Crimson Sox legend put up private bests in common (.326), hits (213), runs (118) and doubles (54). He additionally completed with 20 stolen bases and 83 RBIs whereas incomes one among his 4 All-Star nods over his 14-year profession.
Hanley Ramirez2008 (Marlins): .301/.400/.540, .940 OPS, 33 HR, 35 SB, 125 runs
It would be onerous to go incorrect choosing any season from 2006-09 for Ramirez. He burst onto the scene as a 22-year-old in ’06, racking up 51 stolen bases and including 17 dwelling runs on his strategy to profitable the NL Rookie of the Yr Award. Ramirez then stole 51 extra bases in ’07 whereas seeing his dwelling run whole enhance to 29 and his OPS bounce greater than 100 factors from .833 to .948. Ramirez basically maintained that stage of manufacturing for every of the subsequent two seasons, hitting a career-best 33 dwelling runs in 2008 earlier than profitable the batting title in ’09 with a .342 common. We’ll give the slight edge to ’08 because it was his lone 30-30 season.
Fernando Rodney2012 (Rays): 0.60 ERA, 48 saves, 76 Okay’s in 74 2/3 IP
Rodney was a three-time All-Star, however his finest season unquestionably got here in 2012. The fitting-hander posted a 0.60 ERA and racked up 48 saves in the most effective seasons by a aid pitcher in MLB historical past. That 0.60 ERA is the second-lowest single-season ERA by any pitcher with a minimum of 50 innings, trailing solely Zach Britton’s 0.54 ERA for the 2016 O’s. Rodney’s unbelievable season was sufficient to earn him consideration for each the Cy Younger Award (fifth place) and MVP Award (thirteenth in voting).
CC Sabathia2008 (Cleveland/Milwaukee): 17-10, 2.70 ERA, 10 CG, 5 shutouts, 251 Okay’s
Sabathia completed within the high 4 in Cy Younger voting 4 instances — together with profitable the AL Cy Younger Award in 2007. However the nod right here goes to Sabathia’s unforgettable ’08 marketing campaign wherein he completed fifth in NL Cy Younger voting regardless of taking part in solely half the season with the Brewers. Following his midseason commerce from Cleveland, Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA over 17 begins with Milwaukee — seven of which have been full video games (together with three shutouts). That miraculous run included making every of his last three begins on quick relaxation to will the Brewers into the postseason. He had a 0.83 ERA in these three outings, capped by a complete-game victory in Recreation 162 wherein he allowed only one unearned run.
Ichiro Suzuki2004 (Mariners): .372/.414/.455, 262 hits, 36 SB
How will you decide only one season for Suzuki? It was onerous to not simply go along with his first MLB season in 2001, when he received the batting title by hitting .350, stole a career-best 56 bases and had 242 hits en path to becoming a member of Fred Lynn as the one gamers to win MVP and Rookie of the Yr honors in the identical season. As a substitute, we went with Suzuki’s ’04 marketing campaign wherein he hit a blistering .372 and notched profession bests in bWAR (9.2) and hits (262) whereas profitable one among his 10 Gold Glove Awards.
Troy Tulowitzki2009 (Rockies): .297/.377/.552, 32 HR, 20 SB, 92 RBIs
You actually might have picked any season from 2009-11 for Tulowitzki. He hit .315 with 27 dwelling runs and 95 RBIs in 2010 and adopted it up by hitting .302 with 30 homers and 105 RBIs in ’11. However that each one got here after he first put the league on discover in ’09, when he piled up 32 homers, 20 stolen bases and a .930 OPS. With accidents largely derailing what appeared like a sure-fire HOF trajectory, that ’09 marketing campaign proved to be Tulo’s lone 20-20 marketing campaign.
Ben Zobrist2009 (Rays): .297/.405/.543, .948 OPS, 27 HR, 17 SB
After taking part in sparingly over his first three seasons with the Rays, Zobrist burst onto the scene in a giant approach in 2009. He led the AL in bWAR (8.6) whereas racking up 27 dwelling runs, a .405 on-base share, a .948 OPS and a 149 OPS+ — all of which might maintain up as profession bests.
