It looked like the San Francisco Giants had a long-term rotation piece when Dereck Rodriguez came out of nowhere with a breakout 2018 season.
Signed off the scrapheap to a minor league deal, the son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez made his MLB debut on May 29, 2018.
He quickly emerged as a staple in the starting rotation, going 6-4 with a 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 89 strikeouts in 118.1 innings for 2.5 WAR. There were some red flags, including his 3.73 FIP and low strikeout rate, but he was still expected to hold down a rotation spot in 2019.