Most Positive Surprise of 2010?

Ugh, now that we have the negative surprises out of the way, let's take a look at the Fernando surprises of 2010. We had some great ones.

1. Elymania - John Ely may have faded but for seven starts he was all the rage putting up three straight starts with zero walks. In the end ElyMania only last seven games, so it was short but sweet. He was so hot that even Sports Illustrated got involved. Actually they didn't but the photoshop work was great.

2. Kenly Jansen - we all had our eye on the power arm of Jansen because we told you to keep an eye on him but no one could have foretold the success he would have in 2010. He destroyed the boys in A ball, continued to make a mockery of the semi men in AA, and once he became a major leaguer he made the men in the major leagues looks just as futile as the boys in A ball. Less then 12 months after being converted from a catcher to a pitcher Kenley Jansen was a major league pitcher. And he didn't just show up, he put up a K rate of 13.7 equating to 41 punchouts in only 27 innings. Sure the walk rate was high at 5.0 but who cares since only 12 guys even got hits off of him. For the full season, Jansen between three levels struck out 119 hitters in only 72 innings.

3. Jamey Carroll went from being the backup utility guy who had never played SS to playing SS when Furcal went down, and helping keep the team afloat when they needed it. The 36 year old had the second most plate appearances of his career, and he didn't wilt from the extra use, he thrived putting up his best season in which he had over 100 plate appearances. Some said he was the Dodger MVP, that is only possible to say because the offense had no real hero's in 2010.

4. Andre Ethier having Triple Crown numbers as late as May 14th.

5. Jay Gibbons playing his way onto the major league roster and then not embarrassing himself but providing the power they have searched for from a pinch hitter since they traded Boom Boom long ago. This has to have been a surprise considering Jay Gibbons had not played major league baseball since 2007, and when he did, he was one of the worst hitters in baseball, as a DH/Corner/1st Baseman.

6. Career Minor Leaguer John Lindsey gets his first major league appearance at the age of 33, after 1571 minor league games with nary a major league at bat. He also collected his first hit before having his season ended with broken wrist.