One player was the fifth overall pick in his draft, a left-handed pitcher with a devastating curveball. One player was a top 10 prospect as recently as three years ago. One player was a feared slugger who defected from Cuba and signed a lucrative contract on the open market.
Going into 2016, however, Drew Pomeranz, Wil Myers, and Yasmany Tomas had all but been written off as, if not busts, at least disappointing. Yet, all three have demonstrated this season why they were so highly regarded in the first place.
First, Pomeranz. He was the fifth overall pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2010 after a successful career at the University of Mississippi. He pitched professionally for the first time in 2011, and was dominant that year; in 101 innings at the minor league level, he posted a 1.78 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and struck out 10.6 per 9 innings. On August 16 of that year, Pomeranz was announced as the player to be named later in a trade between the Rockies and Indians (the trade that sent Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland). Pomeranz briefly appeared in the big leagues that year, posting a 5.40 ERA in 18 innings. He was the 30th ranked prospect in baseball going into the 2012 season, according to Baseball America. Pomeranz made five starts in April and May of 2012, and actually did OK, before being sent to AAA. He pitched very well in the minor leagues and returned to the big leagues in July. The rest of the season was a disaster. Pomeranz posted a 6.02 ERA and gave up 12 HR in 61 IP after the All-Star break that year. In 2013, Pomeranz struggled both at the big league level AND the minor league level. After the season, Pomeranz, considered a failure, was sent to the Oakland Athletics in a trade for Brett Anderson.
Pomeranz pitched quite well in 2014. In 69 innings (20 appearances/10 starts), Pomeranz put up a 2.35 ERA. He also spent time in the minor leagues. He started the 2015 season as the A’s fifth starter, and in his first start, was quite dominant. Fantasy owners rushed to pick him up off of the waiver wire. Unfortunately, his command problems resurfaced. He had a 4.63 ERA in 9 starts last season, walking 17 in 44.2 innings. Once he went to the bullpen, Pomeranz pitched much better, posting a 2.61 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 46/14 K/BB ratio in 41.1 innings. Once the offseason came, Pomeranz was again traded, sending him to his fourth organization in six years, the San Diego Padres, in a trade that also involved minor leagues Jabari Blash and Jose Torres going to San Diego in exchange for Yonder Alonso and Mark Rzepczynski.
Pomeranz made the starting rotation out of Spring Training, and, as luck would have it, his first start was at Coors Field against his former team. Pomeranz pitched well, giving up 2 R and 4 H while striking out 7 in 5 innings, as the Padres won 16-3. He was outmatched by Vince Velasquez in his second start and completely shut down a tough Pirates lineup in his next start. For the season, Pomeranz has enjoyed a breakout year with the Padres and the Red Sox.
Next, let’s look at Wil Myers. Originally drafted as a catcher out of high school, Myers slowly climbed the organizational ladder before exploding in 2012, hitting 37 HR (with a .314 AVG) between AA and AAA. Baseball America had him ranked fourth among all prospects going into the 2013 season (behind two players who have seen their careers derailed by injury, Jurickson Profar and Dylan Bundy, and the late Oscar Taveras). In a somewhat surprising move at the time, Myers was shipped to the Tampa Bay Rays along with Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Patrick Leonard in exchange for James Shields, Wade Davis, and Elliot Johnson. The trade has turned out to be a rare win for both teams. The Royals were in the midst of a 27-year playoff drought and felt Shields would put them over the top (nobody expected Wade Davis to become what he has become). Anyway, Myers started the season in AAA, where he continued to hit home runs like crazy. He was called up to the big club in June, where he hit .293 with 13 HR and won the Rookie of the Year. He embarrassingly whiffed on a fly ball at Fenway Park during the playoffs that year. Going into 2014, hopes were high for Myers.
Unfortunately, those high hopes were dashed. Between injuries and poor play, Myers had just 6 HR and a .614 OPS in 325 AB, as the Rays limped to a disappointing 77-85 finish. Myers was again traded, this time to the Padres, prior to the 2015 season, in a three-team trade that also involved the Nationals and saw, among others, Steven Souza Jr., Joe Ross, Trea Turner, and Ryan Hanigan switch teams. Myers, along with Justin Upton and Matt Kemp, were supposed to provide one of the most powerful outfields in baseball for the Padres, a team expected to seriously contend.
Again, those hopes were dashed. Myers again couldn’t stay on the field, and wasn’t great when he did, hitting .253 with 8 HR in 225 AB. The outfield ended up being so awful defensively that Myers was moved to first base, a position he still plays sometimes. People started throwing around the dreaded “b-word” in regards to Myers, who, going into his age 25 season, was at a critical point in his career. Myers has hit for a good average and good power so far. He has also stolen a few bases as well, easily putting his name in the Comeback Player of the Year category.
Finally, we’ll look at Yasmany Tomas. Tomas defected from Cuba after the 2013 season, and didn’t play at all in 2014. With players like Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu, and others having come from Cuba in recent years, there was a lot of interest in Tomas, who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for 6 years and $68,500,000. Tomas played in 118 games for Arizona last season, first as a third baseman (the Diamondbacks had a logjam in the outfield, and Jake Lamb was hurt, but Tomas was not good defensively there), then as an outfielder. Tomas hit .313 in the first half, but without much power, as he hit just 5 HR in 252 AB. He absolutely fell off a cliff in the second half, hitting just .208 with a .553 OPS (to put that in perspective, Mario Mendoza had a .507 OPS in his career), and, still, very little power. He finished the season with a .273 average, but only 9 HR. Many people considered Tomas to simply be a sunken cost, as not every international signing is able to adjust. Tomas, so far in 2016, has hit better than expected and is valuable at multiple positions. Easily, he is an underrated player on a bad Arizona team.
