Of all of the surprise performances in a 2019 season filled with them, Mike Ford’s was one of the most fun. He had been in the farm system for years, having signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of college.
He broke through and made the majors, and turned into a very fun story. In 50 games, he put up a .909 OPS with 12 home runs. Ford especially mashed against lefties, slugging 1.000 against them. That meant he was pretty much a lock to be on the 2020 roster, but the magic didn’t exactly carry over to the new season.