Last winter, I predicted a big year for Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas in 2016. Moustakas completely transformed his swing between 2014 and 2015. He learned to take pitchers the opposite way when they pounded the outside corner against him.
The result was his best season in major league baseball with a .284/.348/.470 triple slash with 22 home runs and 82 RBIs. Overall, Moustakas was worth a star-level 4.4 bWAR (Baseball-reference Wins Above Replacement).
However, the death of Moustakas’ mother clearly impacted his play by mid-season. Moose’s triple slash crashed to .188/.271/.306 in July as Moustakas took family emergency leave multiple times.