Teams get contributions from rookies all the time. There will usually be a top prospect that is nurtured throughout the system, and then thrust onto the big stage, with a core of veterans surrounding him to help him get acclimated to the majors. There are usually major growing pains, and lots of rookies often struggle throughout their rookie years. There is one team in baseball this year that has plugged three rookies into their team, in key positions, and seen them all thrive. The National League Rookie of the Year race is a battle between three individuals, and all of them call Atlanta home.
Freddie Freeman is the position player of the trio. He was the highly touted prospect who was drafted in 2007, in the second round. The Braves drafted Jason Heyward in the first round of that draft. Heyward was the golden child, the player who got all the attention along the way. All Freeman did was play alongside Heyward, and hit his brains out. Last season, when Heyward was starting the All-Star game for the Atlanta Braves, Freeman was tearing up the International League en route to being named a post-season All-Star, and the IL Rookie of the Year. Freeman wasn’t eased into the starting role in Atlanta. The team traded for Derrek Lee midseason, and let him walk as a free agent, handing the job to Freeman. We’re three months into the season, and Freeman is more than holding his own in the majors, with a .272/.347/.448 line. That’s not great for a first baseman, as his .795 OPS is near the middle of the pack for NL first basemen this year. On a Braves team that has been starved for offense due to every hitter aside from Brian McCann struggling, Freeman’s bat has been a welcome addition. In fact, last night, when Freeman hit a pair of homers to pace the Braves in a 4-1 win over the Rockies, he hit cleanup for the team, ahead of his old buddy Heyward.
Craig Kimbrel followed a similar path to the majors as Freeman, though his road was a lot more rocky. Kimbrel was a third round pick of the Braves in the 2008 draft, and jumped out of the gate hard, throwing 35 1/3 innings in his professional debut season and making it all the way up to advanced-A ball. He was known for a couple of things in the minors: an insane ability to strike hitters out, erratic control, and a fastball and slider combination that rendered him nearly unhittable. In 2009, Kimbrel struggled. He pitched at four levels during the season, and walked 45 batters in 60 innings. But on the other side of the coin, he struck out 103. 2010 was Kimbrel’s introduction to The Show, as he threw 20 2/3 innings in the majors in addition to his 55 2/3 innings for AAA Gwinnett. Players, analysts, and coaches were wowed by his pitching over the final month of the 2010 season, and he earned the label of future closer, even with the dominance of Jonny Venters in the eighth inning for the Braves. After Billy Wagner’s retirement following the year, Kimbrel stepped into the closer’s role and hasn’t missed a beat. He has a league leading 25 saves, and leads all major league relievers in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and strikeouts. He is one of the most dominating relievers in the game at the age of only 23, and Braves fans are smitten with the young hurler.
Brandon Beachy came down a totally different road from Freeman and Kimbrel. He wasn’t a high round draft pick. Hell, he wasn’t a draft pick at all. The Braves signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2008. The kid from Kokomo, Indiana worked primarily as a reliever over his first two and a half seasons. In 2010, he was dominating in relief for the AA Mississippi Braves, and he was converted to a starter. It’s all been part of history since. Beachy would throw 119 1/3 innings in the minors in 2010 and showed fantastic control, striking out 148 and walking only 28. He got three starts in the majors in September due to an injury to Jair Jurrjens, and didn’t embarrass himself. Going into 2011, Beachy was in a competition with former top ten overall pick Mike Minor for the Braves fifth starter spot. Much to the shock of many, Beachy won the competition. He’s been fantastic for the Braves this year, striking out 72 batters in 61 1/3 innings while walking only 15. Beachy’s overall stats would look a lot sexier if he didn’t miss a month with an oblique strain. He has been far and away the best fifth starter in baseball, and in reality, he’s probably been the Braves third most effective starter, between Tommy Hanson and All-Star Jair Jurrjens.
But with three great candidates on one team, is there any way that a Brave won’t come home with a trophy in November? There is really only one non-Brave who is having a solid enough rookie season to win the award, and that is Danny Espinosa of the Nationals. He has a .794 OPS as a second baseman, which ranks second at the position to only Rickie Weeks of the Brewers. There is really no other player who can match what Freeman, Kimbrel, or Beachy is doing this year. The flaws with the trio are all very miniscule, in comparison to other players that could get pointed at, like Vance Worley of the Phillies (half as many strikeouts as Kimbrel in barely more innings, more walks than Beachy in fewer innings), Cory Luebke of the Padres (playing for a godawful team in San Diego, and spent most of the season thusfar as a middle reliever), and Josh Collmenter of the Diamondbacks (fewer strikeouts than both Beachy and Kimbrel in more innings).
Unless Espinosa goes on a nice hot streak, and all three Braves cool down, a Braves player is going to be the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year. But the question is…”which one?”
