Austin Riley

If you're looking for candidates for Comeback Player of the Year, Austin Riley should probably be on it. Riley's age-28 season was cut short by an abdominal injury that cost him almost one-third of the season, sapped his power, and caused his strikeout rate to jump to 28.6%. It was his second injury-shortened year in a row, but the underlying metrics suggest the bounceback is coming. Riley still had an elite 15.2% barrel rate and 50.2% HardHit rate, and his xSLG was 30 points higher than actual. Assuming he is able to return to the player he was from 2021-2023, expect another 30 home runs and 90 runs/RBIs. He should be the fourth third baseman off the board, and you can get him much later than the other three, making him a borderline early-round sleeper candidate.