We’ve got the rookie of the year award rankings this week. For last week’s Cy Young review, click here. For the MVP review the week before, click here. Next week we’ll return to the MVP race. All stats are as of August 10th. The number in brackets represents the player’s ranking in the last review.
Through the All-Star break, the AL Rookie of the Year race looked to be a two-man battle between foreign superstars Jose Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka. Alas, Tanaka blew out his elbow and, while still ranking highly, has little chance of beating out the surging Abreu.
In the NL, things have also seen a dramatic change. While the current NL rookie field is still much less than desirable, good seasons from Billy Hamilton and Jacob deGrom have made it interesting once again.
AL – The Jose Abreu Show
1. (1.) Jose Abreu, 1B, CWS: .304/.363/.613, 31 HR, 86 RBI, 60 R
At the beginning of June, having just come of the DL, Jose Abreu looked to be exactly what everyone expected. A monstrous power hitter with little patience and some gaping holes in his swing. However, since that point he has improved his BA 40 points, hitting .338/.400/.627 since his June 2nd return. Amazingly, he had just one game in July in which he did not get a hit and between June 15th and August 1st he had a hit in 39 of 40 games. He has this award almost completely in the bag.
2. (2.) Masahiro Tanaka, SP, NYY: 12-4, 2.51 ERA, 135 K, 129.1 IP, 1.01 WHIP
When Tanaka blew out his elbow, Tommy John surgery seemed all but guaranteed. While that option certainly isn’t off the table, Tanaka has appeared to make some modest progress in rehabbing his partial ligament tear. He did some light throwing on Friday and said he felt fine, and now the Yankees are optimistic that a September return is possible. Whether that’s best in the long run remains to be seen, but don’t assume the line above is Tanaka’s final 2014 numbers.
3. (3.) George Springer, RF, HOU: .231/.336/.468, 20 HR, 51 RBI, 45 R
Out since July 19th with a quad injury, Springer tweaked that same leg in a Minor League rehab game on Wednesday. However, he is back in Houston and working out with the team, so it does not appear as though it was anything serious. That’s good news for the Astros, who, while certainly not in the playoff picture, have had displayed some good young players this season and should continue their rebuilding next year with Springer at the forefront.
4. (-) Jake Odorizzi, SP, TB: 8-9, 3.89 ERA, 139 K, 122.2 IP, 1.30 WHIP
After a rocky first two months of the season, Odorizzi has been stellar in his last 11 starts, going 6-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 68 Ks in 65 innings pitched. When the Kansas City Royals sent Wil Myers to Tampa Bay for James Shields, it seemed like the Royals had made an awful mistake. When Myers won the Rookie of the year award last year, that prediction largely came to fruition. Now, with Myers hurt and playing poorly, it is Odorizzi, who was largely overlooked at the time of the deal, who is making the trade look even more lopsided. The 24 year old righty has an amazing 10.2 K/9 and is striking out three batters to every walk. With James Shields clearly not staying in Kansas City beyond this year, the Royals will regret that trade for years to come.
5. (4.) Yordano Ventura, SP, KC: 9-8, 3.47 ERA, 110 K, 127 IP, 1.32 WHIP
The Royals can at least take solace in the fact that they kept Ventura who, at 23, looks like he’ll be the team’s future ace. His high WHIP and relatively low strikeout rate suggest his 3.47 ERA may be a tad on the lucky side, but he has nonetheless been a consistently good starter for a Royals team that is still in the thick of contention.
Off the list –
5. Brock Holt
NL- Hamilton Running Wild
1. (1.) Billy Hamilton, CF, CIN: .268/.299/.394, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 59 R, 43 SB
To say Hamilton is a flawed player would be a massive understatement. His swing is full of holes, he hardly takes a pitch, let alone draws a walk and he has been caught stealing 18 times, the most in the majors. Focusing on the positives, however, Hamilton is a young player with blinding speed and seemingly unlimited range. He will never win a batting title, but if he develops a bit more patience at the plate and discipline on the bases, he should be everything the Reds could have hoped for.
2. (2.) Jacob deGrom, SP, NYM: 6-5, 2.87 ERA, 94 K, 100.1 IP, 1.23 WHIP
On June 16th, deGrom looked like a completely average pitcher for a completely average Mets squad. His team still stinks, but in nine starts since then deGrom has gone 6-1 with a 1.82 ERA, striking out a batter per inning. Coming into the season, deGrom was a 9th round pick with an uninspiring minor league record. Now, he looks like a staple of the Mets rotation for seasons to come.
3. (3.) Chris Owings, SS, ARI: .277/.313/.458, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 26 R, 7 SB
Owings hasn’t played since July 1st, when he dislocated his left shoulder. His progress since then has been slow but steady, and he should be up to playing simulated games next weekend. He hasn’t been amazing, but he’s a decent hitting shortstop and, prior to his injury, had been playing surprisingly good defense at shortstop.
4. (4.) K0lten Wong, 2B, STL: .242/.285/.400, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 32 R, 17 SB
Wong and Hamilton have been very similar players so far this season. Good defense, plenty of speed, pathetic on-base percentage. While Wong is nowhere near as fast as Hamilton, he is a far more polished base runner, having been caught just twice in 19 attempts. Though yet to display it, Wong has the ability to hit for a good average, having hit .303 with a solid .369 OBP in 107 games at AAA last season. He’ll need to step up that part of his game soon, as a contending team like the Cardinals can’t afford a sub-.300 OBP for very long.
5. (-) Jesse Hahn, SP, SD: 7-3, 2.28 ERA, 57 K, 59.1 IP, 1.06 WHIP
Though he has only made 10 starts, Hahn has been good enough to merit consideration for this award due to the weak field he’s against. He got torched in his big league debut, lasting just three and two thirds innings and allowing six hits and four runs off two homers. Since then, Hahn has allowed one run or fewer in six of nine starts and not more than three in any of them. He walks far too many guys (3.8 BB/9), but he has limited the damage by allowing just 5.8 H/9, striking out almost a batter per inning and having allowed just one homer since that first start.
Off the list –
5. Eric Campbell
For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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