While some major leaguers find success early, others take years to reach their potential.
The following players are in the second category. Each had WAR below 10.0 (according to Baseball-Reference) at the end of the season in which they turned 26, and none had WAR above 4.0 in a season before their 27th birthday. All eventually became stars.
Receiver: Jorge Posada
Posada won four World Series titles with the New York Yankees and finished his career with 275 homers, 1,065 RBIs and a 121 OPS +. However, the Puerto Rican did not unleash until 2000, at 28, when he received the first of four consecutive calls to the All-Star Game and was awarded the first of four Silver Bats in a row. Before that, Posada was a regular hitter, posting a 100 OPS + in his first 292 games in the majors.
First base: Edwin Encarnacion
Encarnacion was a solid hitter in his first seven seasons (OPS + of 104). But back then, he was nothing like the slugger who hit 42 home runs, drove in 101 runs and had a 153 OPS + as a 29-year-old for the Blue Jays. That campaign was the first of eight consecutive seasons for the Dominican with 32 homers or more. In 2019, at 36 years old, Encarnación hit 34 homers and had an OPS + of 132.
Second base: Jeff Kent
Kent, the all-time home run leader among second basemen with 351, had two seasons with more than 20 home runs in his first five seasons in the majors. But it wasn’t until he passed the Giants that he was called up to multiple All-Star Games and became a perennial candidate for the National League Most Valuable Player award. Kent finished his career with a bWAR of 55.4, 45.1 of which he accumulated after his 29th birthday. From 1997 to 2005, Kent averaged 28 home runs and 110 RBIs a year. He was recognized as the MVP of the Old Circuit in 2000, a campaign in which he sounded 33 homers and drove in 125 runs.
Third base: Josh Donaldson
Donaldson was a catcher when he was selected by the Cubs in the 2007 amateur draft and was slow to find a fixed position after being traded to the Athletics. But in 2013, at age 27, Donaldson became Oakland’s starting third baseman and finished fourth in the voting for the AL Most Valuable Player award. The gunner was sent to the Blue Jays in November 2015 and the following season had a line of .297 / .371 / .568 (151 OPS +) with 41 homers and 123 RBIs to win the Young Circuit MVP.
Shortstop: Maury Wills
Wills was a teenager when he signed with the Dodgers prior to the 1951 season, but he didn’t make his major league debut until 1959, when he was 26 years old. In his fourth season in the majors in 1962, he was recognized as the Most Valuable Player in the National League with 208 hits, 204 stolen bases and 130 runs scored. Wills was called up to five All-Star Games from 1961 to 1966. He finished his career with 2,134 hits and ranks 20th on the all-time list with 586 ripped off.
Left field: Brian Giles
The ranger had an OPS of 1,000 or better in more than 600 plate appearances three times, equaling Hall of Famers like Chipper Jones, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Robinson and Hank Aaron in that regard. Giles made the majors with the Indians and was a part-time player until the end of his season at age 27 in 1998. After being traded to the Pirates by Ricardo Rincón, Giles had a 1.030 OPS in his first four seasons with the Indians. Bucaneros, a stretch in which he averaged 37 home runs and 6.0 bWAR. Although his power waned when he passed to the Padres, he racked up bWAR of 19.3 with San Diego from 2003-2008.
Center field: Earl Averill
Of all the players in the Hall of Fame, Jackie Robinson is the only one who was older at the time of his major league debut than Averill. Averill played his first major league game in 1929, just over a month after his 27th birthday. In his rookie season, he hit .332 / .398 / .538 with 18 homers. Averill was called up to six All-Star Games and from 1929 to 1938 he averaged a bWAR of 5.1. year. In that stretch, he had an OPS + of 137.
Right field: José Bautista
After hitting 59 home runs and a 0.0 bWAR in his first six seasons, Bautista adjusted his swing and out of nowhere became one of the most feared hitters in the majors. In 2010, as a member of the Blue Jays (his fifth major league team), the Dominican led all players with 54 homers and had an OPS + of 164 at age 29, while accumulating bWAR of 7.0. Bautista again led the majors in home runs the following year with 43. Bautista also hit 40 home runs in 2015, the bell in which he helped Toronto end a 21-year drought with no playoffs. From 2010 to 2015, Bautista averaged 38 home runs and a bWAR of 5.9 a year.
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz
Ortiz excelled at bat with the Twins (108 OPS +), but it wasn’t until he arrived in Boston that he became a legend. After being discharged by Minnesota in December 2002, the Dominican signed with the Red Sox and at age 27 finished in fifth place in the American League MVP voting. Within a year, Ortiz helped Boston beat rival Yankees in the American League Championship Series after losing 3-0 and then won their first World Series title since 1918. Ortiz helped the Patirrojos win two more. championships and was the MVP of the 2013 World Series at age 37. In his last major league season in 2016, at age 40, Ortiz hit 38 home runs and led the majors with a 1,021 OPS. In total, the Santo Domingo native hit 483 home runs in 14 seasons with the Red Sox.
Utility: Ben Zobrist
Zobrist, arguably the best utility in Major League history, saw little action in his first three seasons before leaving bWAR of 8.6 for the Rays in 2009. From turning 28 to 33, Zobrist averaged 6.0 per year bWAR and saw action more than 100 times at three positions (2B, SS, RF). In 2016, at 35, Zobrist was called up to his third and final All-Star Game and was recognized as the MVP of the World Series after helping the Cubs end a 108-year drought without a title. .
Pinch hitter: Nelson Cruz
Signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent in 1998, Cruz was traded three times before making his debut with the Texas Rangers. The Dominican outfielder became a major league starter in 2009, a season in which he hit 33 homers and had an OPS + of 117 at age 28. After hitting 135 home runs in the regular season and another 14 in the playoffs for Texas from 2009 to 2013, Cruz signed a one-year deal with the Orioles and hit 40 home runs for the first time in his career. He then went on to the Mariners, for whom he hit 37 home runs or more a year from 2015 to 2018. Cruz is coming off 41 home runs for the Twins in 2019. The Quisqueyano is one of just nine players who have hit 40 home runs or more in four. seasons after turning 30.
Starter: Randy Johnson
There was a time when it seemed that Johnson’s lousy control would be the motto of his career. In his first five seasons, the southpaw walked 14.5% of the hitters he faced and had an ERA + of 101 in 818 innings. But in 1993, at 29, Johnson cut his walking rate to 9.5% and struck out 308 batters in 255.1 innings of work, while going 19-8 with a 3.24 ERA. Two years later, Johnson won the first of his five Cy Young Awards. Johnson joined the 300-win club in 2009 as a member of the Giants and is second in all-time history with 4,875 strikeouts. Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, turning 28 in 1967, the season in which he led the majors with a 1.87 ERA in 207.0 innings. Niekro surpassed 200 innings worked seven times after his 40th birthday. The right-hander was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.
Opener: Max Scherzer
It’s hard to remember a time when Scherzer wasn’t one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, but he didn’t reach that level right away. The right-hander had a 3.92 ERA in his first four seasons. But after posting a 4.72 ERA in the first 22 starts of his fifth season in the majors, Scherzer had a 1.65 ERA in his last 10 starts that year. In 2013, at 28, Scherzer won the American League Cy Young Award. The ace signed with the Nationals after the 2014 season and has won two other Cy Young Awards and a World Series title with Washington. In five seasons with the club, he has posted a 2.74 ERA and averaged 274 strikeouts a year and strikeouts in seven consecutive seasons and was recognized as the MVP of the Old Circuit in 1924 after posting a 28-6 record with an ERA of 2.16 and 262 strikeouts in 308.1 innings of work by the Brooklyn Dodgers. The right-hander accumulated a bWAR of 60.1 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955.
Opener: Chris Carpenter
Carpenter had a 4.83 ERA in his first six seasons at Toronto and was discharged after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder in September 2012. Later, he signed with the Cardinals and was 29 years old when he returned to the majors in the 2004 season. in which he went 15-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 182 innings. Carpenter was awarded the National League Cy Young Award in 2005. He needed Tommy John surgery in July 2007 and lost most of 2008. But in 2009, he came back and led the Old Circuit with a 2.24 ERA. . After throwing a two-hit shutout on the final day of the 2011 regular season to help the Cardinals capture in the NL Wild Card, Carpenter prevailed in a duel with Roy Halladay of the Phillies in Game 5 of the Series. Divisional and won Games 1 and 7 of the World Series, at age 36.
Wilhelm fought with the United States Army in World War I, but his late debut cannot be attributed solely to his military service, as he spent six minor league seasons after the war. Wilhelm was finally called up to the majors in 1952 at age 29 and ended up leading the National League with a 2.43 ERA in 159.1 innings of relief work. Wilhelm pitched in the majors for 21 years and had an ERA + of 147 in 1,070 appearances. In 1985, the right-hander became the first reliever inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Closer: Joe Nathan
After a disappointing start in the majors, Nathan became one of the best relievers in the Giants bullpen in 2003, the season in which he turned 28, posting a 2.96 ERA in 79.0 innings. After being traded to the Twins, Nathan became the club’s closer and finished the 2004 season with a 1.62 ERA, 89 strikeouts and 44 saves in 72.1 innings. In his lifetime, the right-hander had 377 major league saves, of which 376 came after he turned 29. (GG) (Taken from MLB.Com)