SPECULATOR: Skills searching for roles, 2019
Apr 24 2019
One year ago today, this was Jesús Aguilar's season-to-date stat line:
AB AVG R RBI HR SB == ==== = === == == 38 .421 8 7 1 0
Aguilar made the Opening Day roster, but was mostly a platoon bat off the bench at this point. Then Eric Thames tore a ligament in his thumb, and as detailed in an April 26, 2018 PT Today column, Aguilar was given the everyday role. He took the job and ran with a .274-35-108 breakout performance that didn't really get started until May. The skills were there—we tagged Aguilar with an "UP: 30 HR" in the 2018 Baseball Forecaster—he just needed a chance.
Moral of the story? It's still really early. While we're all itching to dissect the April returns—we've been guilty of making snap judgments...
Almost!
You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
More From Speculator
What lessons can we apply from Drew Rasmussen's 2025 breakout to this year's player pool?
Mar 11 2026 8:36am
Mar 11 2026 8:36am
Applying lessons learned from George Springer's 2025 breakout to this year's player pool
Mar 4 2026 3:04am
Mar 4 2026 3:04am
This week's exercise is all about picking holes to help avoid early-round busts.
Feb 25 2026 3:10am
Feb 25 2026 3:10am
Sure, they struggled last year, but if we remove some recency bias, granting mulligans could be a lucrative exercise.
Feb 18 2026 3:06am
Feb 18 2026 3:06am
Our annual look at who changed their pitch mix the most in-season last year, and (most importantly) whether it worked.
Feb 11 2026 3:06am
Feb 11 2026 3:06am
