Leading Candidates for AL Rookie of the Year
Every year members of the Baseball Writers of Association of America vote on who they think deserves to be recognized for their excellent play during the Major League Baseball season. Among the awards that the writers are tasked with awarding is the most valuable player for each league, the best pitcher (Cy Young Award), and the best rookie performance.
What can make the rookie award a little difficult to decide is figuring out who is worthy of consideration. Should it only be players that started the year with the club, or should it be open to any first year player regardless of when they were called up by the club? The current guidelines state that a player needs to have pitched at least 130 at-bats, 50 innings or been on the active roster for at least 45 days.
While the race in the National League is shaping up to be extremely competitive with a number of players turning in worthy performances, the list of candidates in the American League is a lot smaller.
Austin Jackson
The outfielder for the Detroit Tigers started the season with the team among heavy expectations and he has not disappointed. His 142 total hits through 22 August are by far the most for any rookie in the American League as are his total bases (190). He has not shown a ton of power with just two home runs, but the speed that has helped to seven triples and 19 stolen bases makes up for it.
What could keep Jackson from winning the award is one of his team mates in the Tigers outfield, Brennan Boesch. Boesch looked like a viable candidate himself for much of the season before falling into a deep slump in early July. If Boesch were to wake back up for the last 40 games he could steal a lot of votes that would have otherwise gone to Jackson.
Wade Davis
The Tampa Bay Rays have had one of the most dominant pitching rotations in baseball this season and Wade Davis has been a big part of that. Through 21 starts he has won nine games and lost nine while keeping the Rays in the thick of the AL East division race with the New York Yankees. His 60 earned runs is the least among AL rookie starting pitchers through 22 August with at least 10 starts; only Brian Matusz has struck out more batters than him (among AL rookies).
Sergio Santos
Santos deserves mentioning for the road at which he arrived in the major league alone. After being drafted out of high school in 2002 as a short stop, he bounced around the minor leagues with a few teams and even spent some time out of baseball before getting picked up by the Chicago White Sox who wanted him to become a pitcher.
As a middle reliever he has done well converting 11 holds and one save opportunity along with one win. He does give up too many walks, but what can you expect from a career infielder?
Neftali Feliz
The young closer for the Texas Rangers came in with high expectations and has not disappointed. The team initially had trouble deciding if they wanted to try him out in the rotation, but eventually opted to keep his incredible fastball in the closer’s position. His 31 saves in 34 opportunities are good enough for third in the American League, and he will likely get even more with the Rangers contending for the AL West division title.
Although his 3.7 ERA is high for a closer, it will be hard for many voters to ignore his dominance at the position in just his first year in the league.
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