Zero to hero
Jake Bauers and the glory of escaping the depth player label
There’s a type of guy in baseball who we are primed, above all else, to overlook. Embedded in the dewy slow motion of the fourth inning of a spring training game, six hearty scrolls down the spreadsheet, a mental stretch beyond breakout player picks. If you go seeking this type of guy, the radiation of your mere interest transforms him into a different type of guy.
These guys aren’t new and shiny. They aren’t always around, but they are there enough to blend in. They didn’t used to be anything, really. If they were actors, their IMDB pages would be CVS receipt readouts of one-episode stints on every show you’ve ever heard of.
They’re depth guys, replacement players, until occasionally they’re something else.
I love this type of guy, and thought it might be a good moment to appreciate the best of baseball’s 2026 crop. First challenge: Defining them. Using preseason PECOTA projections from Baseball Prospectus, I pulled the list of position players who entered the season …
- Expected to play in the majors, as noted by appearing on a depth chart
- Projected for 0.5 Wins Above Replacement Player or less
There were 291 hitters who met the criteria. And as of Sunday, in late August, 27 have handily eclipsed their supposed station in life by accumulating 1 WARP or more. Just 14 of those have done so while logging an above-average offensive output, by BP’s DRC+ metric.
