Every year has breakout guys. We don’t mean players like Julio Rodríguez or Adley Rutschman -- can’t-miss prospects who, when they made it to the Majors, did not, in fact, miss. We’re talking about the players who hadn’t made much of a mark in the Majors until the 2022 season and then announced their presence with undeniable authority -- the ones who made sure, in 2022, you’d never forget their names again.

Here are the most surprising breakout players of the year.

1. Luis Arraez, INF, Twins
We’ll admit he did not come out of nowhere. He finished sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2019, and he hit .294 in '21. He has been a good player for a few years, no question. But this was the year he grabbed you by the lapels and demanded you pay attention. He led the AL in batting average at .316, but that was essentially the low point of his season, and if not for hamstring woes that almost opened the door for Aaron Judge to win the Triple Crown, it’s safe to say he would have been up above .330. The guy was hitting .367 on June 11 and .355 on July 9. He reached his first All-Star Game and finished 13th in the AL MVP voting.

2. Dylan Cease, RHP, White Sox
The South Siders had all sorts of issues this year, but Cease absolutely was not one of them. His 2021 season was his first real settled one in the Majors -- he made 32 starts while leading the bigs in wild pitches (13) -- but he got everything aligned in 2022. His 2.20 ERA in 32 starts (again) was a lifesaver for the White Sox, and he finished second in the AL Cy Young voting. It’s still worth noting that his 2022 wasn’t that different than his '21; he actually struck out fewer batters per nine this past season, and he still led MLB in walks (78). But that 2.20 ERA will, justifiably, grab everybody’s attention.

3. Nestor Cortes, LHP, Yankees
Cortes was already a nice story and a fan favorite. But after bouncing around between franchises and the Minors, he not only established himself as a rotation mainstay in 2022, he simply became one of the best pitchers in baseball. His 2.44 ERA was the best in the Yankees' rotation, and he not only made his first All-Star Game, he finished eighth in the AL Cy Young voting. And he has to have set some sort of record in mound contortionism. There aren’t many guys in baseball who are easier to root for than Nasty Nestor.

4. Andrés Giménez, 2B, Guardians
When you look at the top 10 players in WAR (per Baseball Reference) in 2022, you see the names you’d expect: Judge, Ohtani, Arenado, Goldschmidt, Machado. But look who’s there at No. 6. That’s right, it’s Giménez, the guy who hit .218 in 68 games in 2021 in his first season in Cleveland after coming over in the Francisco Lindor trade. He exploded on the scene in 2022, winning a Gold Glove, making an All-Star team and finishing sixth in the AL MVP voting. Giménez hit .297, but he got on base at a very impressive .371 clip, helped considerably by an AL-leading 25 hit-by-pitches. When you’re establishing yourself, you’ve got to get on base by any means necessary. The best player in Cleveland this year wasn’t José Ramírez: It was Giménez.

5. Ryan Helsley, RHP, Cardinals
Helsley has always thrown hard. But in past years, largely because of issues with his planting foot, he has been inconsistent, even downright bad at times. The results had never matched his stuff. But he got everything in sync in 2022, and he became one of the most dominant relievers in baseball, with a fastball that could hit 104 mph. He ended up with a 1.25 ERA and stabilized a Cardinals bullpen that was a primary reason St. Louis won the NL Central going away. He had a postseason hiccup, but that might have been because of overuse. When he's rested, he’s as unhittable as anyone in the sport.

6. Alek Manoah, RHP, Blue Jays
One of the highlight moments of this year’s All-Star Game, and thus the season as a whole, was Manoah’s charming interview from the mound in the second inning. He made pitching seem both incredibly exhausting and ridiculously fun.

But Manoah established himself, both before and after that ASG, as one of the best pitchers around, winning 16 games and putting up a 2.24 ERA for a Blue Jays team that always appeared to have a little bit more pep in its step when he was on the mound. Of all the Blue Jays pitchers you thought would finish third in the Cy Young vote before the season, I bet he wasn’t anybody’s first pick. He will be next year.

7. Cristian Javier, RHP, Astros
Remember when the worry with the Astros was their rotation? The juggernaut’s weakness became its strength in 2022, thanks largely to Javier, who transformed himself from a solid if inconsistent bullpen arm into one of the most reliable pieces of any rotation. His 2.54 ERA in 148 2/3 innings was invaluable, but his real lasting contribution came in the postseason, where he threw 5 1/3 shutout innings in an ALCS start and six shutout frames of a combined no-hitter in the World Series, both Astros wins. With Justin Verlander gone, he might be their ace next year.

8. Jeremy Peña, SS, Astros
We’ll finish up with another Astro … We all knew it was a risk for this team to replace Carlos Correa with a rookie, and let’s face it, we were all kind of prepping ourselves to mock them for it all year. But then Peña started the season afire (.820 OPS through May), putting up bigger numbers than Correa and looking for all the world like he’d been a big leaguer his whole life. He slowed down a bit as the season went along, while still playing terrific defense, but his postseason was a face-melter, and he ultimately became the ninth player in MLB history (and the first rookie) to win the LCS MVP and World Series MVP. Is it possible to have a more successful rookie year than he just had? Where do you go from here?