When Chicago claimed Alex Rios off waivers from Toronto last summer, he responded about as badly as possible. In his first 22 games with the Sox, Rios hit .154 with one home run and three RBI.

What went wrong?

“It was a combination of things, to be honest with you,” Rios recently told the Chicago Sun-Times. “The things I wanted to do I wasn't doing right. I got into a bad place, started doing the wrong things. You tell yourself to get back to basics, but at that point it's hard to do.”

Hitting coach Greg Walker has seen improvement during Rio’s pre-spring training work.

“There were some that felt we needed to change his mechanics,” Walker told the Sun-Times. “I wasn't in that camp. I don't think he needs a change mechanically. We tried to attack the problems that developed late last season, but when that didn't work, we decided, 'Well, let's just give him some time off.' My hope was that the time away would be what he needed, and the two or three things he developed would disappear.”

Rios looked like his old self last May with the Blue Jays, batting .302 with five homers, 13 RBI and an .868 OPS. But then his season went south and he finished with mediocre numbers (.241, 17 homers, 71 RBI).

The previous three seasons he hit .302, .297 and .291 with 56 homers, 123 doubles and 246 RBI in that span. So there is reason to expect some bounce back for a team that has posted nice offensive numbers in the past.

Here are some other candidates for bounce-back seasons:

Carlos Quentin, OF, White Sox: His 2008 breakout (.288, 26 doubles, 36 homers, 100 RBI, .965 OPS) was followed by a nightmarish ’09 season (.236, 14 doubles, 21 homers, 56 RBI, .779 OPS). His nagging plantar fasciitis landed him on the disabled list from May 29 to July 19 and hindered his production all season.

With power-hitting outfielder Jermaine Dye gone via free agency, Chicago is counting on Quentin’s full recovery. He is another major project for Greg Walker.

Jose Reyes, SS, Mets: He is attempting to come back from leg injuries that limited him to 36 games last season. He hopes surgical repairs will restore him to his brilliant form (.297, 56 stolen bases, 37 doubles, 19 triples, 16 homers, 68 RBI) of 2008.

“There’s no doubt I’m supposed to be the same Jose Reyes,” he told the Bergen County Record. “The doctor says I should be 100 percent and I should recover my speed. I don’t know if I’ll recover right away, but I’m working for that. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I’m healthy, I’ll be able to do the stuff that I did before.”

Tim Hudson, SP, Braves: He is all the way back from Tommy John surgery. By the end of last year he looked like his old self during his first seven starts back -- posting a 2-1 record with a 3.61 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. Back in 2007 he finished 16-10 with a 3.33 ERA. The Braves, expecting him to regain that form, gave him a three-year deal during the offseason.

“I'll tell you what, man, it feels really, really good,” Hudson said after signing. “It feels just as normal as my left elbow. I didn't think I would ever be able to say that.”

Brad Lidge, RP, Phillies: After converting all 41 save opportunities in 2008, he blew 11 of 31 chances last season while posting a 7.11 ERA. He underwent minor elbow and knee repairs after the season and may miss the first few weeks of the season. But Philadelphia is hoping that these surgeries restore Lidge to his previous lights-out form.

Aubrey Huff, 1B-3B, Giants: After Baltimore traded him to Detroit last summer, Huff hit just two homers and drove in just 13 runs in 40 games with the Tigers. He finished with 15 homers and 85 RBI overall – a long ways off his peak 32-homer, 108-RBI pace of 2008. The Giants are starved for offense, so Huff will get every chance to regain that stroke in the National League.

Kyle Lohse, SP, Cardinals: After going 15-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 2008 – when he served as the ace of an injury-depleted rotation – he struggled with assorted maladies last season. He finished 6-10 with a 4.74 ERA. On a staff also featuring Cy Young candidates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright plus newcomer Brad Penny, Lohse will get a lot of favorable match-ups. He will also receive ample offensive and defensive support.

Jimmy Rollins, SS, Phillies: Last season the 2007 NL MVP batted just .207, .238 and .167 during the first three months of the season before finally shaking out of his slump. He regained his more typical form after the All-Star break, hitting .277 with 14 homers and 43 RBI and an .801 OPS. Expect that surge to carry over into the 2010 season.

Alfonso Soriano, OF, Cubs: Chicago imported hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo to salvage this notorious hacker. ‘‘That’s going to be good news,’’ Soriano said after the hiring. ‘‘We had very good communication because he speaks Spanish. He’s very good and smart. He works very hard, too.’’

Last year Soriano hit just .241 with 20 homers and 55 RBI. The year before he batted .280 for the Cubs with 29 homers and 75 RBI. He has posted excellent power (46 homers) and run-producing (104 RBI) earlier in his career and he is still in his athletic prime.

Ryan Ludwick, OF, Cardinals: Relegating to a platoon role last season, he suffered precipitous drops in batting average (.299 to .265), doubles (40 to 20), homers (37 to 22) and RBI (113 to 97).  But he hit .340 in July with six homers and 28 RBI, reminding us that his 2008 breakout season wasn’t a total fluke. Matt Holliday’s return will allow him to stay in the No. 5 slot in the batting order and regain his everyday right field role.

Mark DeRosa, INF-OF, Giants: He played through a wrist injury late last season in St. Louis, which explains his .193 batting average in September. He hit just .228 for the Cardinals after coming over from Cleveland in a rental trade. After offseason surgery, look for him to hit like he did the previous four seasons – when he posted .296, .293, .285 and .270 averages.