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Denard Span is hitting .318 since his callup for the Twins earlier in the season.

  There are six players around the major leagues that are surprises and that stand out to me. Three from the National League and three from the American League. Here is a breakdown of each player and their contributions to their ballclub, both contenders and non-contenders.

 American League:

1. Denard Span OF- Twins: This 24-year old phenom has been lights out for the Twins since his callup earlier this year. He is leading off for the Twins and has set the table for the rest of their offense with his speed, hitting, and energy all around. The Twins sit in 2nd place in the AL Central and trail the first place Chicago White Sox by 1 game. Span has been a part of their success this season as he his hitting .318 Avg. with 2HR 22 RBI and has scored 37 runs and  has 11 stolen bases to top it all off. This kid is the real deal and Torrie Hunter mentored him well when he was with the Twins and told him he would get his shot sooner or later and to make the most of it. Span is definitely making the most of it.  Yahoo Sports had Span ranked 747th overall and his actual rankings based on his statistics now is 140th overall.

2. Alexei Ramirez 2B- White Sox: This Cuban defector and 26-year old Cuban missile has been solid for the White Sox all year and has contributed well.  He is one of the many surprises on this Chicago White Sox team.  His numbers are pretty good and surprising as well. Ramirez is hitting .309 Avg. with 14HR and 55 RBI and has 9 stolen bases in the bottom of that White Sox order.

3. Marlon Byrd OF- Texas Rangers: This guy has complemented well to the Rangers powerful offense.  He can thank guys like Hamilton, Kinsler, and Bradley for helping toward the success of Byrd and the Rangers.  Marlon Byrd wasn’t looked to as a big contributor before the Rangers season began, but now he is one of their major contributors with rookie David Murphy down and all-star Kinsler now out of the lineup.  Byrd has contributed well and is one of many surprises on this Rangers squad.  Byrd is hitting .300 avg. with 8HR an 35 RBI’s and has scored 52 runs.  Look for Byrd to continue his hot bat and keep contributing for the Rangers as the season comes to a close. 

National League:

1. Fred Lewis OF-Giants: This 27-year old speedster has been a big surprise for this San Francisco Giants team. With the loss of Barry Bonds in left field and his powerful bat, Lewis has filled in nicely in left field and has also contributed offensively all season.  He is one of the few Giants that have hit well this year. Lewis is hitting .285 Avg. overall and has 9HR and 37 RBI’s and has also added 10 triples and 21 stolen bases to his stat line. He is a mixture of speed, power, and defense that a young Bonds used to feature before he developed into one of the greatest power hitters in the game. It is safe to say Lewis probably won’t have a career like Barry Bonds, but his potential to be a great player in the bigs is obviously there.  Only time will tell for Freddie.  Lewis was  ranked 151st when the season began according to Yahoo Sports, and now is currently ranked as the 125th player overall. Pretty good fantasy player for whoever has him. 

2. Fernando Tatis OF-NYM: This is one of the players that stand out to me as being a surprise player, because he has filled in nicely due to injuries to some of the Mets’ key outfielders like Ryan Church and Moises Alou.  Tatis has contributed a lot since being the everyday outfielder for the Mets and has put up a nice offensive season together.  He is hitting .297 overall and has 10HR and 38 RBI’s and has scored 29 runs for this Mets team.  He was ranked by Yahoo Sports as the 726th player overall at the beginning of this season and now is ranked 302nd overall.  Pretty good for a player who was barely going to make a major league roster and let alone have a chance to contribute on a daily basis. He was projected to be a role and bench player at best. Now he is an everyday contributor to the first place New York Mets and looks to be down in the stretch for the playoffs.

3. Willie Harris OF- Nationals: This guy is my last surprise player and is very underrated. He is not going to put up wow numbers or be the top player on the team, but he will give you speed, energy, and complement a lineup well.  He was the forgotten man on last year’s Braves squad and has emerged as one of the top contributors on the lowly and last place Washington Nationals team.  He is hitting .255 but his average has actually rose from under .200 to that since being an everyday player and has 12 HR’s (a career high) and 38 RBI’s and has scored 46 runs for this weak Nats offense.  Harris was the 727th ranked overall player by Yahoo Sports and now is the 370th ranked player. Kudos to Harris for being one of the few bright spots for this terrible Nationals team. 

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