We took care of the NL Rookie of the Year this morning. Now, it’s time for the AL Rookie of the Year. I wrote about this race a couple of weeks ago, and talked about how Michael Pineda seemed to have the award all but locked up. Did the staff agree with me? Let’s take a look at the voting.
1) Michael Pineda (38 points, 12 first place votes)
2) Mark Trumbo (18 points, one first place vote)
3) Zach Britton (8 points)
4) Jordan Walden (6 points)
5) Jeremy Hellickson (5 points)
6) Eric Hosmer (1 point)
7) Dustin Ackley (1 point)
8) Jemile Weeks (1 point)
So yeah, the staff was nearly unanimous with their pick for the winner: Pineda. He’s been fantastic this year. Pineda has not only been the best rookie pitcher in the league, he’s been one of the best pitchers period. He’s got a 3.03 ERA and it’s backed up with a 3.17 FIP. He’s struck out exactly one batter per inning, and is walking less than three hitters per nine innings. The only possible knocks on Pineda for possible regression this season is a slightly high home run rate, and an alarmingly low ground ball rate. There’s also the fact that Pineda has already thrown 113 innings this season, and his career high in the minors is 139 1/3. He’ll probably end up getting to that mark by the end of July. The season’s final two months will put Pineda into uncharted waters, and he could tire and struggle as a result, and leave the door wide open for another candidate to sneak in.
Mark Trumbo of the Angels has been the best hitter in the rookie class by far, and is also one of the best hitters on the Angels, putting up 17 homers and a .788 OPS in 84 games. With the injury to Kendrys Morales knocking him out for the rest of the season before even taking a swing in the batter’s box, Trumbo has been allowed to step into that role at first base and produce at a level that is more than suitable for a rookie. The thing is, Freddie Freeman in the NL is doing just about the same thing, but is getting a lot less love. That’s due in part to the relative weakness in the AL’s rookie class right now, but a lot of the rookies in the American League were late callups and should be getting some more love as the season progresses.
Zach Britton started off like a ball of fire for the Orioles, helping to solidify their rotation. But as the season has gone on, Britton has come back down to earth, and his below average strikeout and walk rates are starting to take a toll. But hey, his ERA is still hovering around the 4.00 mark, which I’ll take from a rookie. Britton is still a work in progress, but he’s definitely had a solid campaign thusfar, and gives the Orioles a lot to be hopeful for in the future.
Jordan Walden, another Angel, has been the best AL rookie reliever this year, but not as good as his NL counterpart, Craig Kimbrel. Walden debuted last season for the Angels, and was a dominant force, striking out more than a batter per inning with a great groundball rate, and control that was a little iffy. This season, he was inserted into the closer’s role, and is doing a lot more of the same. His strikeout rate is down, but more in line with his minor league average. The walk rate remains the same, while the homer rate and groundball rate have both gone down. 20 saves for a rookie before the break is damn solid though, and it looks like the Angels finally have their closer after struggling for a couple of years finding a guy.
Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays was the most highly touted rookie coming into the year, but he’s just been OK. His ERA is more than a run lower than his FIP, which suggests that regression is coming in the future. He’s not striking a lot of hitters out, walking a few too many guys, and allowing way too many homers. Hellickson has been nowhere near as good this season as he was in the minors, or even in his brief callup last year. But he’s held his own for the Rays, and isn’t expected to do a lot for the team right now with their totally stacked rotation.
As for the rest…Eric Hosmer got an early callup for the Royals after decimating the minors, and the 21 year old is showing signs of being something special for a pretty bad Kansas City team. As long as Hosmer keeps playing every day, he could make a move in the rankings after the season ends. Dustin Ackley is another guy who can make a move as the season continues. He’s only played in 20 games, but has a .900 OPS with great defense. He’s the guy to keep an eye on the most, because he is going to be a superstar in this league very soon. Finally, there’s Jemile Weeks, who was profiled in a Minor League Monday segment a couple of weeks back. He’s pretty much been an average second baseman for the A’s, walking at a horrendously low rate with a high batting average and minimal power. He could be an above average hand for the team though, since they traded incumbent Mark Ellis to make room for Weeks at second.
That takes care of the rookies. Next up: the pitchers! Tomorrow, we’ll look at the Cy Young voting for the NL and AL. NL at 10 AM, AL at 12 PM. See you then.
