Keith Law 2018 Breakouts

Lucas Giolito, RHP, Chicago White Sox: The White Sox have helped Giolito restore his old delivery, rediscover the tight spin on the plus curveball he had as an amateur and even add a second "two-seam" changeup to his pitch mix, which already included a slider and straight change. He's throwing harder this spring, again commensurate with what he was doing as an amateur and in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery. I do worry he'll be a little homer-prone between his four-seamer, which is still fairly straight, and the White Sox's homer-friendly park, but I am optimistic we'll see an above-average line from Giolito this season with a huge strikeout total.

Nomar Mazara, OF, Texas Rangers: Mazara seemed to stall a little bit in his sophomore year in the majors, especially as it became clear to pitchers that they could attack him with off-speed stuff low or outside of the zone. He still made enough hard contact when he did put the ball in play that he should hit for higher averages going forward, although his swing right now is more geared to using the whole field than it is for big power. He has earned raves from Rangers people this spring for his mental approach to the game, his confidence at the plate and his work on areas such as improving his at-bats against lefties. He has never been undisciplined at bat, giving me reason to think he'll have better results on contact this season and, for example, reduce how often he rolls over off-speed stuff to the opposing first baseman.

Daniel Norris, LHP, Detroit Tigers: I admit I don't love seeing that Norris' velocity was sitting at 90-91 mph in one recent outing, but I'm still listing him on the basis of his outstanding athleticism, his improved control in his looks this spring and the change in the Tigers' coaching staff. He seems to have gotten past the delivery issues that bedeviled him early last season, when he'd over-rotate and release the ball too early. It doesn't seem like he'll make the Tigers' rotation to start the season, but that's fine; he could work effectively in long relief for a few weeks and move into the first opening in the rotation. A full-season breakout for Norris might look like 120-130 innings of league-average performance.

Jameson Taillon, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates: Taillon hasn't been able to catch a break since he was the No. 2 overall pick in 2010 between Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. He has had Tommy John surgery and a hernia injury, which combined to cost him all of 2014 and 2015, took a liner to the head in 2016, and then was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2017, missing just a month after surgery to treat the disease. There's really no good reason why he should allow a .357 BABIP to right-handed batters again this season given his plus sinker/plus slider combination. Even with some remaining platoon split, he should be much more effective this season and drop his ERA a half-run or more

Blake Snell, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays: Snell started to break out in the second half last season, as his command of his off-speed stuff improved, especially his curve (which became a big swing-and-miss pitch for him) and changeup. Snell has long had the stuff to be a No. 2 starter but rarely the command or even the control, but it seems like that came together last fall and has continued into the spring. He's also doing a better job of using his fastball to set up his three potentially above-average secondary pitches. I expect above-average performance from him no matter how much he ends up starting for the Rays.