2024 Tuffy Awards: Cheers to the Reds' Nick Martini, MLB's biggest opening week fluke

The new season in underway and everything we thought we knew about baseball has already been proven spectacularly wrong. Or … maybe it just seems that way.

Sure, Mookie Betts and Juan Soto are already on the fast track to MVP awards. And Corbin Burnes has been a great fit in Baltimore. But there’s so much more we didn’t see coming.

That’s why we present our annual Tuffy Awards − to pay tribute to lesser-known players who start the year ridiculously hot, get everyone overly excited to add them to their fantasy rosters … and predictably return to their near-replacement level of production.

The inspiration for the award did just that 30 years ago. On opening day in 1994, unheralded Chicago Cubs outfielder Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hit three home runs off Dwight Gooden and etched his name in baseball history.

Fantasy teams who grabbed Rhodes off the waiver wire (and kept him the rest of the season) reaped the rewards of five home runs and a .234 average from that point forward.

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And so, with a mix of caution and skepticism, we sort through the early box scores in search of this year’s Tuffy.

Non-Tuffys

But before the grand reveal, we should highlight a few players who may not have been on the radar of most fantasy managers, but who just might be season-long contributors beyond their noteworthy debuts.

SP Garrett Crochet, Chicago White Sox. Making the first start of his major league career after 72 relief appearances (and on opening day, no less), Crochet held the Tigers to a run on five hits and struck out eight over six innings. His fastball hits the upper 90s and he has a career strikeout rate over 10 K/9. The big question is how deep he can go into games. But isn’t that the big question with every starting pitcher these days?

SP Jared Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates. The pitching prospect was overshadowed by No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes throughout the spring, but he was the one who made the opening day roster. Striking out 10 in 5 2/3 innings with a fastball that touched 100 mph and winning his MLB debut puts him firmly on the radar in all formats.

OF Oswaldo Cabrera, New York Yankees. A foot injury for DJ LeMahieu opened the door for Cabrera to start at third base on opening day. He made the most of it by hitting .438 with two homers and six RBI in a four-game sweep of the Astros. If he keeps hitting like that, Cabrera could keep the job, even when LeMahieu comes back? That’s never happened on the Yankees before, has it?

RP Jason Foley, Detroit Tigers. After Alex Lange registered 26 saves a year ago, most people assumed he’d keep his job as Detroit’s closer. So imagine the collective surprise when Lange didn’t appear in a 1-0 win over the White Sox on opening day and Foley came in to nail down the victory. Of course that’s what you get when you assume. While it’s dangerous to say the job now belongs to Foley, getting a second save three days later and showing off some nasty stuff in the process is a pretty good indication of which way manager A.J. Hinch is leaning.

Near-Tuffys

Now we get to our distinguished finalists. These players also performed well to start the season, but their prospects for continued success have a few roadblocks ahead.

1B/2B/OF Cavan Biggio, Toronto Blue Jays. Starting three games at second base and one in the outfield, Biggio homered in the opener and finished the first weekend with a .900 OPS. However, he’s never been able to replicate the success he had as a rookie in 2019. He’s hitting at the bottom of the order and the younger Davis Schneider should eventually supplant Biggio as the everyday second baseman.

OF Eddie Rosario, Washington Nationals. The veteran signed at the tail end of spring training and ended up as the Nats’ opening-day starter in center field – a position he hadn’t seen since playing three games there in 2019. He’ll sit against lefties and get pulled for defense in the late innings. And don’t forget, the Nationals have several highly regarded outfield prospects just waiting to take his place.

1B/OF Connor Joe, Pittsburgh Pirates. The veteran was among the many heroes in a sweep of the Marlins, hitting .316 out of the leadoff spot and scoring six runs in four games. However, the Pirates faced four left-handed starters in that series. It’s a great way to start, but Joe will likely sit against righties.

2B Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers. MLB’s surprising stolen base leader after the opening weekend, Turang went 5-for-11 (.455) with four steals vs. the Mets. However, it’s hard to see him maintaining that success rate. Turang had a .285 on-base percentage as a rookie in 2023 with the 12th-lowest hard-hit rate among qualified batters. Fantasy teams cannot live by steals alone.

SP Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals. In his fifth big-league season, Singer rocked the house against the Twins, allowing only three hits in seven shutout innings and striking out 10. It’s a far cry from the 5.52 ERA pitcher we saw a year ago when his whiff rate (7.5 K/9) declined for a second consecutive season. It’s easy to dream on his 2022 numbers (3.23 ERA, 1.14 WHIP), but this one start may have only masked Singer’s true talent level.

And the 2024 Tuffy Award goes to …

OF Nick Martini, Cincinnati Reds. He didn’t quite get to Tuffy’s total; Martini was cut off after his second home run on opening day. But the feat was quite impressive for someone who had only hit a total of eight home runs in his previous four MLB seasons. In the starting lineup only because of the Reds’ many injuries this spring, the two-Martini launch came out of the No. 8 spot in the order, as the designated hitter, in the best park for left-handed power last season against a team that had the fourth-worst ERA in the majors.

All those factors are unlikely to line up so perfectly very often in 2024. Yet despite starting only two of the first four games, Martini ended the week hitting .500 and tied for third in the majors with seven RBI.

It looks like he’ll continue to start against right-handed pitchers, but T.J. Friedl may only miss another month as his wrist heals. And the Reds could decide to rotate their other hitters through the DH spot in the meantime. So while fantasy managers may enjoy having Martini in their daily lineup, they should be sure to enjoy in moderation.

Follow Gardner on X: @SteveAGardner