What players have surprised you most so far this year?

[b-ball-lunachick]

Since we're halfway into the season, I thought it would be interesting to name which player has surprised you the most in a good way and a bad way...then we can see how they end up at the end of the year.

Here are my choices:

Surprisingly Good: Dickey (11-1 w/ 2.00 ERA, 103 strikeouts .89 WHIP)

Surprisingly Bad: Lincecum (3-10 w/ 6.42 ERA, 104 strikeouts 1.58 WHIP)

Who are your choices and why? And why do you think those people either broke out or performed below expectations so far?

[Yankee Tripper]

2 excellent choices b-ball so I'll grab 2 differnt ones

Mike Trout - MVP candiate rookie surpringly good. I know he was hyped but he sucked last year in his call up and Socicia isn't known for being patient with rookies. That he's been this good this quickly is amazing.

Dustin Ackley - looked like a breakout candiate at 2B after last year's rookie seaon now looks like a AAA candidate.

[EvanJ]

Surprisingly Good: Dickey (11-1 w/ 2.00 ERA, 103 strikeouts .89 WHIP)

He's now 12-1, 2.40 ERA, 123 strikeouts, 0.93 WHIP.

[Jax Teller]

Chris Sale

[The Comic Book Guy]

Edwin Encarnacion, Halladay

[Benefactor]

Austin Jackson

.331/.408/.541/.948

Austin now has more than 1600 MLB PA and still has the highest BaBIP in all of major league baseball over the last three years (cumulative) at .376. I guess at some point we have to accept that his extraordinary BaBIP is more than luck.

Walks are way up, strike outs way down. It probably has to do with getting rid of the high leg kick causing his head to jerk around less, but I don't know.

[ArodEra]

Austin Jackson

.331/.408/.541/.948

Austin now has more than 1600 MLB PA and still has the highest BaBIP in all of major league baseball over the last three years (cumulative) at .376. I guess at some point we have to accept that his extraordinary BaBIP is more than luck.

Walks are way up, strike outs way down. It probably has to do with getting rid of the high leg kick causing his head to jerk around less, but I don't know.

Good one, especially considering his disappointing 2011. His K's are strikingly down from a K every 3.26 PA in 2011 to one every 4.45 this year. I always felt that would improve as he matured. He's made huge gains in the power department too. I think he's going to have a stud career.

[1970cs]

Gio Gonzales 12-3 Thought he would be good, but not dominant.

Reid Brignac .118BA and now in the minors. After a couple of seasons of fairly regularly being in the Rays lineup, he fell off a cliff.

[teknetic]

AJax definitely. The K's were a huge part of his game and he's cut down on that by a lot.

[hellonewman]

He hasn't been atrocious by any stretch but considering how high his bar is set I think Pujols could fit into the "surprisingly bad" category. At least until he hits 3 homers today god forbid.

[Yankeesfan924]

Wow. I knew Lincecum was pitching badly, but wow, that's atrocious.

[Hitman23]

Biggest disappointment is a landslide, Lincecum. No need for explanation there. (Cliff Lee is an honorable mention here though)

As for biggest surprise, I have to go with Soriano. With Mo going down I was petrified about what would happen but he has filled the role to near perfection and makes me feel better about Mo retiring when he does assuming Soriano is still here. I know I'm being a homer here but he is rock solid and that is huge for the Yankees.

I'll add a couple of options here too:

Also, biggest comeback, Adam Dunn. On pace for 50 I believe. Glad to see him doing what he does. Honorable mention Johan Santana.

Breakout players go to Melky in the NL and Andrus in the AL. Both are studs.

[Hitman23]

Gio Gonzales 12-3 Thought he would be good, but not dominant.

I wasn't surprised at all. I knew Gio was this... now he's got a chance on a winning team. Good for him.

[Hitman23]

Chris Sale

I'm really interested in seeing if he hits the Ogando wall.

[Ram Man]

B
Also, biggest comeback, Adam Dunn. On pace for 50 I believe. Glad to see him doing what he does.

Dunn is having a historic season. Not only is he on pace for 52 HRs, but also 133 BB and 254 K, that is, nearly 400 PAs without hitting the ball.

[SportsFan13]

Edwin Encarnacion and RA Dickey.

[jhicks99]

Encarnacion, it's another Bautista like breakout and the Jays just wisely locked up him before the huge offers rolled in in the off-season.

[BronxYanks45]

Melky, he's been putting up MVP type stats

[4bronxbombers]

Chris Sale and Melky. Mike Trout too - he's fun to watch. When I had Sale on my fantasy team, I had to drop him, he was doing so bad....this year is a different story.