Garcia, Haniger among players who have finally broken through. Can they keep it up?

Jacob Barnes, Avisail Garcia, Mitch Haniger and Brad Peacock are among the biggest surprises of the season's first month, but not all of them figure to make that performance last all year long.

Tom Verducci | Apr 25, 2017

Garcia, Haniger among players who have finally broken through. Can they keep it up? /

Brewers slugger Eric Thames may be the biggest breakout star of the season, but he's far from the only one. Below are four other players who have grabbed headlines this April with their strong starts, as well as an examination of what turned things around for them and whether or not they can keep it up throughout the grind of a six-month season.

KERI: Nationals lead power rankings as champs drop two spots

Published Apr 25, 2017

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.