Rookies of the Year
Each day DSB will jump on here and give you a breakdown of each award category and who we think will win and who should win. Today at 2pm, both leagues' Rookie of the Years get announced.
American League
Elvis Andrus .267 BA, .702 OPS, 72 R, 40 RBI, 6 HR, 33 SB
Nolan Reimond .279 BA, .831 OPS, 49 R, 45 RBI, 15 HR, 8 SB
Gordon Beckham .270 BA, .808 OPS, 58 R, 63 RBI, 14 HR, 7 SB
Matt Wieters .288 BA, .753 OPS, 35 R, 43 RBI, 9 HR, 0 SB
Rick Porcello 14-9, 3.96 ERA, .267 BAA, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1.71 K/BB
Jeff Niemann 13-6, 3.94 ERA, .266 BAA, 2 CG, 2 SHO, 2.12 K/BB
Andrew Bailey 6-3 26 Sv, 1.84 ERA, .167 BAA, 3.79 K/BB
The Texas Rangers' Elvis Andrus appears to be the favorite coming down the stretch as his second half performance at the plate began to catch up with his stellar defensive work. However, players like the Chicago White Sox' Gordon Beckham and the Baltimore Orioles' Nolan Reimond should be strongly considered as we believe they have better offensive numbers than Andrus. And if you want to talk about who has the most potential coming out of this class, I think most would agree on the Orioles' catcher Matt Wieters who ended up hitting near .300 after a slow start.
The Detroit Tigers' Rick Porcello tops the list of rookie pitchers who made a significant impact in the
AL this year. The Tampa Bay Rays' Jeff Neimann has similar (if not better) numbers across the board but he doesn't have the buzz that Porcello is generating. The other arm to strongly consider is the Oakland Athletics' closer Andrew Bailey who was the only AL rookie to make the All-Star team.Who Will Win: Elvis Andrus will top Rick Porcello in a relatively tight race.
Who Should Win: Andrew Bailey and his 26 saves with the second best ERA and lowest opponents' batting average in the American League should be the consensus favorite. Unfortunately, the writers already have him positioned on the outside of the race looking in.
National League
Chris Coghlan .321 BA, .850 OPS, 84 R, 47 RBI, 9 HR, 8 SB
Andrew McCutchen .286 BA, .836 OPS, 74 R, 54 RBI, 12 HR, 22 SB
Garrett Jones .293 BA, .938 OPS, 45 R, 44 RBI, 21 HR, 10 SB
Casey McGehee .301 BA, .859 OPS, 58 R, 66 RBI, 16 HR, 0 SB
Tommy Hanson 11-4, 2.89 ERA, .225 BAA, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 2.52 K/BB
J.A. Happ 12-4, 2.93 ERA, .244 BAA, 3 CG, 2 SHO, 2.13 K/BB
The clear favorite seems to justifiably be the Florida Marlins' Chris Coghlan. Other notables mentioned in the discussion are the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen, the Phillies' J.A. Happ and the Atlanta Braves' Tommy Hanson. Hanson and Happ have similar resumes on the year and frankly I'm surprised Hanson seems to be the favorite among pitchers considering the BBWAA's normal voting preferences for players on teams that made the playoffs. Much like Wieters in the AL, McCutchen has the biggest potential for becoming a superstar, but this award should be for performance on the field during the last season. Given those requirements, there are some who would argue he is not even the best rookie to be promoted for this award on his own team. The Pirates' Garrett Jones led all NL rookies in home runs and slugging percentage, but his lack of games this season has been a deterrent to
putting his name in the conversation.
The name that is mysteriously absent from all the lists by the "experts" is the Milwaukee Brewers' Casey McGehee. How is he not being mentioned? Look at his numbers...how is he not the second best offensive NL rookie?
Who Will Win: Chris Coghlan
Who Should Win: Chris Coghlan...6th in the entire NL in batting average and he led the entire major leagues in second half hits. This should be a runaway.
Tomorrow: AL Cy Young preview
Thanks for coming and suckling Daddy's Sugar Ball
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: J.A. Happ Matt Wieters Tommy Hanson Andrew McCutchen Andrew Bailey Elvis Andrus Garrett Jones Casey McGehee Gordon Beckham Jeff Niemann Nolan Reimond Rick Porcello Chris Coghlan
The BBWAA would do the Pirates a favor by not giving the award to either McCutchen or Jones. Can only cost the team more if they ever have to go to arbitration. That being said it should be interesting to see how the PBC screws up two great talents like McCutchen and Jones over the coming years. It will be fun to watch them turn on the team and the city into Jason Kendall did. If you can't tell I am trying to set the bar as low as humanly possible.
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This was a great piece. You really made my research a great deal much easier.
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