Fantasy Baseball: 10 Players Who Surprised Us in 2017

Luis Severino, SP, New York Yankees

Preseason ADP: 350.16

Which qualified American League starting pitcher finished the 2017 season third behind only Chris Sale and Corey Kluber in fWAR (5.7), strikeout rate (29.4%), and SIERA (3.25), all while posting one of the top 10 swinging-strike rates (13.0%)? In case you didn't get the hint, it's New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino.

A historically bad postseason start notwithstanding, he's been one of the league's best hurlers after an up-and-down 2016 campaign.

One of the big differences between these two seasons was his ability to go right after hitters and get ahead early in counts. After posting a 59.3% first-strike percentage last year, that number jumped all the way up 65.1%. That in turn helped him limit handing out free passes to opposing hitters, as his walk rate settled in at a personal-best 6.5% in 2017.

Severino's slider was very effective this season -- opposing hitters mustered just a 39 wRC+ against it -- but his changeup was equally effective and made huge strides compared to the year before.

After watching the opposition post a 106 wRC+ and .167 ISO against that offering in 2016, those numbers decreased dramatically in 2017 to 34 and .083, respectively. His strikeout rate with the changeup jumped nearly eight percentage points, while his swinging-strike rate in this situation went from 7.3% to 12.7%.