This is the seventh annual installment of my "Guys I Got Wrong" column (for past versions, see the links below). I'll look at players who have become much better big leaguers than I ever forecasted them to be and try to explain where I made mistakes in evaluating them.
As with previous editions, I've included some players I didn't discuss much as prospects or young major leaguers -- errors of omission that are errors nonetheless. This allows me to talk about some guys who never received much praise or publicity anywhere, not just from me.
For this column, I focus on players who have shown a new tool, a new skill level or a new caliber of production for more than a season, so players who've been in the majors for only a few months or produced beyond expectations for a partial season will have to wait a little longer. Chris Taylor is a good example of why -- his 2017 breakout season hasn't lasted, and he's down 27 points in OBP and almost 50 points in slugging while leading the NL in strikeouts this season, making him a solid regular but not the player he appeared to be last year.
With those restrictions laid out, here are five players I was wrong about in the past, all of whom have exceeded my predictions or expectations for them over the past few years.