Coming into the 2019 season, there was a lot of hype surrounding some of the up-and-coming top prospects. The baseball world knows about the legend of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after his jaw-dropping performance in the Home Run Derby, but it was his fellow rookie, Pete Alonso, who outlasted him and took home the hardware. As the weather gets colder and the rookies’ race for the postseason heats up, this year’s rookie class could be viewed as one of the best ever.
With that being said, let’s take a look at who is deserving of each respective League’s Rookie of the Year award.
National League
The favorite at this point in the season is Pete Alonso. The Mets first basemen tied the NL record for home runs in a season by a rookie with 39 last night. In 120 games, he’s slashed .264/.369/.595.
Trailing close behind him is the second generation shortstop, Fernando Tatis, Jr. Tatis has electrified the San Diego fan base more than the addition of superstar Manny Machado. To go along with his superb fielding, he’s hitting .317 with 22 home runs and 16 stolen bases in just 84 games in the Senior Circuit.
His brief tenure in the MLB last year might hurt his chances at receiving votes. But Braves starting pitcher Mike Soroka could be the most underrated rookie in his class. The 21-year-old is 10-2 with a 2.32 ERA in 128 IP.
American League
Compared to the NL, the AL ROY race is not nearly as close. At the beginning of the year, all eyes were on Vladdy Jr. But the Toronto Blue Jays prodigy has only shown flashes of what we expected. He’s hitting just .272 with only 14 home runs. Not bad, but not what everyone was expecting after the moonshots he constantly hit in AAA.
Yordan Alvarez took the MLB by storm when he entered scorching hot. He’s only played in 50 games but has hit 17 taters while also hitting at a .332 clip. His mixture of power and ability to get on the base makes him dangerous for years to come. The only question is whether voters will vouch for a player who’s played in less than half of the games this year. The rookies’ race at an all-time pace is getting close.
Predictions
NL- Pete Alonso, Mets
AL– Yordan Alvarez, Astros
10 Comments
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