Luke Voit was hitting fifth and playing first base for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds on Memorial Day a year ago.
Gio Urshela was inserted as a pinch-runner and moved to third amid the only six weeks he would play in the majors in 2018, shuffling mainly between short and third while the Blue Jays waited for Josh Donaldson, Aledmys Diaz and (fill in the laugh track) Troy Tulowitzki to heal.
Domingo German fell to 0-3 with a 5.45 ERA in losing to the Astros, done in particularly by J.D. Davis’ three-run homer.
A year is a long time. Baseball is a funny game. Stuff happens. Voit, Urshela and German have been vital in helping the Yankees forge the majors’ second-best record despite zero games pitched by Dellin Betances and Luis Severino, and 44 combined games played by Miguel Andujar, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
Memorial Day represents about one-third of a season and generally the first assessment pit stop of the season. So in honor of Voit, Urshela and German, 10 on my mind will provide a team of surprises to date:
1. Catcher — James McCann, White Sox: In five Tigers seasons, McCann managed to hit .240 with a .653 OPS. He was non-tendered in the offseason, signed by Chicago for $2.5 million and is hitting .322 with an .865 OPS.
2. First base — Logan Forsythe, Rangers: Voit emerged late last season after being obtained by the Yankees, and Josh Bell (Pirates) has been a good hitter throughout his career who has climbed to more this year. Forsythe is the kind of player who falls out of the game now without much notice, three straight years of declining OPS, down to .604 last year and in his 30s. He signed a minor league contract with Texas, earned a roster spot, then gained regular play across the infield.
3. Second base — Tommy La Stella, Angels: Mainly a pinch-hitter/spare part, La Stella was traded from the Cubs to the Angels during the offseason for future considerations and has worked his way into the everyday lineup. He began the year with 10 career homers and already has 12. A hat tip to Cincinnati’s Derek Dietrich, who was designated for assignment by the offensively troubled Marlins and reached Memorial Day with 13 homers, two more than Miami’s four most regularly used infielders combined.
4. Shortstop — Jose Iglesias, Reds: Signed in late February to be a glove off the bench, Iglesias became the regular shortstop when second baseman Scooter Gennett was injured and Jose Peraza moved to second, and Iglesias completed the weekend hitting .303 at home, .305 on the road and .304 in March/April and .305 in May.
5. Third base — Urshela: Kansas City’s Hunter Dozier has been better and a surprise, but he was the eighth pick in the 2013 draft, so there is pedigree there. Like Iglesias, Urshela was a spare glove who suddenly has hit like never before and saved the Yankees from having to constantly explain why they didn’t sign Manny Machado while helping to ease the loss of Andujar.
6. Left field — Joey Gallo, Rangers: He still walks, strikes out or homers in nearly 62 percent of his plate appearances. But the walk rate is up dramatically, the strikeout rate slightly down and the power the same as ever, and that has helped turn a guy who hit .203 with a .317 on-base percentage into a .277/.423 force who has shown the athleticism to play center.
7. Center field — Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks: He had played two games in center before this season. A.J. Pollock left as a free agent, and it turns out Marte is good at the position. Plus, he has helped salvage the Mitch Haniger-to-the-Mariners trade by hitting this season like Haniger while the key acquisition for Arizona, Taijuan Walker, continues to rehab after Tommy John surgery.
8. Right field — Hunter Pence, Rangers: After spurning Dozier, there was a need to put a Hunter on this team. Yes, Pence has mainly DH’ed, but after an age-35 season with the Giants of a .590 OPS, he looked done. Instead, he already has 11 homers, a .309 average and 1.006 OPS.
9. Starter — Frankie Montas, A’s: German has been timely and terrific for a Yankees team that needed both. But Montas has been better, giving Oakland meaningful return at last for the trade of Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers at the deadline of 2016.
10. Reliever — John Gant, Cardinals: This could be Kirby Yates, but since joining the Padres in 2017 (after a 5.23 ERA with the Yankees in 2016), the righty has gone from good to very good in 2018 to perhaps the majors’ best reliever in 2019. Instead, this goes to Gant, who Met fans might remember went to the Braves in 2015 for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. In the pen exclusively so far this year, Gant’s fastball has ticked up and his ERA has plummeted to 1.26 while he has allowed 12 hits in 28 2-3 innings).