Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies
Speaking of young shortstops, Trevor Story had himself a tremendous bounce-back campaign in 2018 following a disappointing sophomore season. While he did rack up 24 homers and 82 RBI through 555 plate appearances in 2017, he did it with a .239/.308/.457 triple slash to go along with an 81 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR, and an alarming 34.4% strikeout rate.
Story basically set new single-season career highs in just about every offensive category in 2018 while taking a huge step forward in his development. The shortstop slashed .291/.348/.567 with 37 home runs, 27 stolen bases, and 108 RBI in 656 plate appearances, which culminated in a 127 wRC+ and 5.0 fWAR.
The most encouraging part of this performance was a drop in strikeout rate — that 34.4% clip dropped all the way down to 25.6% without sacrificing much in walk rate (8.8% in ’17, 7.2% in ’18). Story’s hard-hit rate settled in above 40.0% for the third straight year, but he was more aggressive on pitches in the strike zone (69.0% swing rate in ’17, 74.6% in ’18). That was accompanied by a career-low 11.4% swinging-strike rate and a career-high 87.2% contact rate on strikes.
As with any Rockies hitter, Coors Field will (rightly or wrongly, depending on who you ask) be a topic of discussion, as will the teammate to his right in Nolan Arenado. Story finished eighth in National League MVP voting last year, but Arenado has four straight top-10 finishes (three straight top-five finishes). With him in his penultimate year of team control — at least at the moment — he’ll be taking up a ton of the spotlight and headlines.
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