SIZZLING UP THE SECOND HALF/11: 2010-2022

Some interesting new names that you might not expect, and one more .400+ sighting provide us with an intriguing finale to our "kings of the second half" feature. Let's get to it...

Five "newbies" in 2010-11, with some nice high batting averages to go along with some solid slugging. One exception: Jose Bautista, who cracked 30 HRs en route to his 54 HR season and cracked .700 SLG despite a sub-.300 BA. 

Three more new names, including the second half that helped boost Buster Posey into the 2012 NL MVP award. Miguel Cabrera showed us a great finishing kick as he stayed on track for his Triple Crown season. Mike Trout's 2013 second half was pretty much just a day at the office for him at this point, while Jayson Werth astonished more than a few with his stretch run in the same year.

More new names, starting with Joey Votto's .408 second half in 2016. (It was actually his second time on the list, making him one of the few to be on it two years in a row.) Chris Davis' monster second-half--in fact, his entire 2015 season--soon revealed itself as a flash-in-the pan echo of his even more "monsterous" 2013 season; Freddie Freeman got his HR bat in gear down the stretch in 2016, but never quite matched up to that level again, despite having a fine career. David Ortiz and Edwin Encarnacion were like mirror-images of each other at home plate during the second half of 2015...

And even more new names, including the amazing second half spike of Christian Yelich in 2018, who pushed all the way up to #32 all-time. A year earlier, J.D. Martinez hit even more HRs and came within shouting distance of Yelich's SLG--and he did it for two different teams. In 2019, Alex Bregman and Nelson Cruz--on opposite ends of their careers--each took it a couple of levels in the second half. 

Three more newbies, each with excellent performances that land them in the Top 100...but, of course, all eyes are on Aaron Judge's just-completed second half run that pushed him to 62 HRs (a new AL record) and landed him at #10 all-time for second-half performances. Bryce Harper (the "evil mirror-image" of Mike Trout--at least sometimes...) and Juan Soto aren't exactly chopped liver, however.

So, one more .400+ BA sighting, three more .500+ OBPs, and nine more 700+ SLG second-halves. We'll sum up all of the relevant highlights for all the offensive categories across the entire spectrum of our Top 300 in our twelfth and final post, coming up shortly. Stay tuned...