Who are the early favorites for the 2018 Comeback Player of the Year Awards?
Sometimes lost among some of the more prominent honors during award season, the Comeback Player of the Year award celebrates one player in each league that showcased a notable return to form following a year of injury or relatively poor performance. Last year, Greg Holland took home the award in the NL for his stellar relief work in Colorado after returning from Tommy John surgery, while Mike Moustakas earned the award in the AL for his All-Star campaign with the Royals after coming back from a torn ACL.
You don't have to be a guy returning from injury to win the award, though -- Casey McGehee won the AL Comeback Player of the Year after literally coming back to America and having a solid year with the Marlins after playing in Japan in 2013. Two other recent winners, Fernando Rodney (2012) and Rick Porcello (2016), have earned the award after simply posting underwhelming numbers the year before. Francisco Liriano also earned the award after a year of poor performance -- and he did it twice!
Liriano is the only player to ever win the award multiple times, as he won it in the AL in 2010 and in the NL in 2013. Incredibly, Liriano is also one of the favorites again in 2018: After a difficult year in which he posted a 5.66 ERA and was traded mid-season, Liriano is now with the Tigers and is having a strong April, posting a 2.55 ERA in his first three starts with his new team. Who else is in the running for 2018 Comeback Player of the Year? Let's take a look at the field: