All-Rookie Teams

Konnor Griffin

As we enter the home stretch of this baseball season, I'd like to acknowledge this year's deep deep rookie class. There have been many notable rookie performances and debuts, like Joshua Báez’s 3 HR debut, AJ Ewing's triple in his debut, and Kevin McGonigle putting up one of the highest rookie bWAR seasons in recent memory. 

Stats as of 9/17

First Team                                 bWAR‍ ‍. PA   HR   RBI  SB AVG/OBP/SLG    OPS+

C: Carter Jensen (KC) 3.0 567 24 74 2 .232/.319/.453 116

1B: TJ Rumfield (COL) 3.6 597 15 69 0 .300/.392/.455 122

2B: JJ Wetherholt (STL) 4.6 589 17 48 14 .240/.341/.368 104

3B: Kazuma Okamoto (TOR) 2.5 537 33 88 1 .235/.310/.464 110

SS: Kevin McGonigle (DET) 6.7 663 17 65 12 .274/.376/.424 124

OF: Tristan Peters (CWS) 3.8 470 12 54 8 .273/.343/.452 121

OF: Carson Benge (NYM) 3.4 609 18 58 22 .270/.333/.413 109

OF: Chase DeLauter (CLE) 3.2 522 14 62 11 .289/.362/.453 131

Second Team                            bWAR PA   HR   RBI  SB AVG/OBP/SLG    OPS+

C: Joe Mack (MIA) 1.3 313 13 47 0 .233/.282/.401 90

1B: Sal Stewart (CIN)         2.3 657 31 108 15 .269/.338/.472 123

2B: Travis Bazzana (CLE) 2.4 483 14 56 19 .249/.342/.408 113

3B: Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (ATH) 0.7 62 1 4 0 .417/.435/.583 178

SS: Konnor Griffin (PIT) 1.5 295 5 27 22 .262/.315/.384 89

OF: AJ Ewing (NYM) 3.1 454 10 38 24 .256/.327/.383 100

OF: Henry Bolte (ATH) 2.9 428 11 34 20 .275/.357/.403 109

OF: Victor Mesa Jr. (TB) 2.7 230 13 30 9 .252/.320/.500 126

OF: Sam Antonacci (CWS) 2.1 524 8 45 18 .271/.367/.392 113

Baseball fans are familiar with the seasons that most of these players have had. Led by Peters, Antonacci, and Munetaka Murakami, the surprising White Sox are still marching towards a playoff berth. The White Sox are battling the Guardians’ own youth wave, with DeLauter, Bazzana, and Messick (see below) pushing Cleveland for the division lead. Top prospects Jensen, Wetherholt, Stewart, and Benge have all acclimated nicely to the majors. Ewing’s and Benge's defense has been a plus for the Mets. Stewart has provided pop from the corner infield positions, Wetherholt has been an all-around stud, and Jensen has been steady at the top of the Royals’ lineup. 

Rumfield was a sleeper coming into the season and he's proved those writers right. Coming to Colorado in a trade with the Yankees, Rumfield seized the 1B job early in the year and never looked back. Kuroda-Grauer has a smaller sample size than others on the list, but he made a big impact in his limited time. Konnor Griffin likely would have pushed his way onto the first team if he hadn't missed so much time with injury. Mack's performance behind the plate has pushed the Marlins to move incumbent catcher Agustín Ramírez to 1B. Mesa Jr, a former prospect himself, was cast from the Marlins organization and scooped up by the Rays, where he’s found new life.  

Honorable Mentions:

Murakami had himself a great season, hitting 31 HRs, 14 doubles, and posting a 1.6 bWAR in 508 PAs. Giants’ Bryce Eldridge has posted a 1.9 bWAR season in 448 PAs, with 17 HRs, 57 RBIs, and a 132 OPS+.  

SP First Team                       bWAR IP    ERA ERA+ FIP K%  BB%

Parker Messick (CLE)         5.7 178.1 2.57 158 3.11 26.2 6.6

Walbert Ureña (LAA) 3.4 137.1 2.88 141 3.68 22.6 11.6

Logan Henderson (MIL) 3.2 93.1 2.51 166 3.30 30.7 4.6

Payton Tolle (BOS)         2.9 143.0 3.02 135 3.04 28.9 6.6

Nolan McLean (NYM) 2.6 166.2 3.24 125 3.67 26.5 9.5        

SP Honorable Mention bWAR IP    ERA ERA+ FIP K%  BB%

Foster Griffin (WSH/CLE) 3.0 166.2 3.67 116 4.07 21.8 6.5

Andrew Alvarez (WSH)        2.4 102.0 3.35 129 3.26 23.2 11.0

Jake Bennett (BOS)   1.4 109.2 3.78 108 3.51 20.4 4.5

Relievers First Team bWAR IP    ERA ERA+ FIP K%  BB%

Didier Fuentes (ATL) 2.6 69.1 2.21 192 2.45 31.5 7.2

Spencer Miles (TOR) 2.4 91.2 2.65 166 2.73 23.5 6.5

Bradgley Rodríguez (SD) 1.1 68.0 2.38 169 2.86 26.4 6.4

Messick and McLean barely held onto rookie eligibility entering the season, as both were near the rookie threshold. Despite that fact, Messick surpassed expectations to put up an excellent season for the Guardians. Tolle has gotten stronger as the season has progressed and McLean fought through some inconsistency to post a 2.6 bWAR season. Bennett, with Tolle, form a solid duo in the middle of the Boston rotation. Former Mets prospect Henderson has been brilliant for the Brewers as their rotation has needed his presence behind Jacob Misiorowski. Alvarez and Miles have provided quality innings as spot starters and as bulk relievers. Pirates’ Bubba Chandler (1.7 bWAR) has navigated some inconsistency but the former top pitching prospect has pitched 147.1 innings and posted a 4.28 ERA, backed by a 4.19 FIP.