Unlike many of the other award watches in Major League Baseball, the American League Rookie of the Year award seems to be an easy call.
Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox has emerged as one of the best hitting first basemen in not only the American League, but in all of Major League Baseball. Upon entering the league, some speculated Abreu didn’t deserve a chance at the award because he already played professional baseball for five years in Cuban Serie Nacional. While in Cuba, he set a home run record in 2010-2011 and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. After signing a six-year contract with the White Sox worth $68 million, he has proven to be worth every penny. At the All-Star Break, Abreu had a .292 batting average with 73 RBIs and a league leading 29 home runs.
During the season, he was named both AL Player of the Month and AL Rookie of the Month in April and July. That was the first time in history a player won both awards in the same month twice in one season.
This season, Abreu is hitting .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBI. Add in the league’s best slugging percentage (.590), and you’ve got an easy call for Rookie of the Year, regardless of already playing professional ball.
There are some rookies that put solid seasons together but were just an injury or slump away from seriously challenging Abreu for the Rookie of the Year. A perfect example is pitcher Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees.
Tanaka was 12-4 with a 2.51 ERA and 135 strikeouts to only 19 walks to start the season. Unfortunately, he hurt his elbow right before the All-Star break and has not pitched since.
If he stayed healthy, he would have been in the conversation for both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards. He attempted to come back a bit too early and re-aggravated his elbow during a rehab throwing season that stalled his return.
He returned during the Yankees’ final series against Boston at Fenway, but struggled in his lone start.
The Japanese import allowed five run and was pulled less than two innings into his start.
There is another rookie pitcher wearing the Yankee pinstripes that had a promising season that went somewhat unnoticed.
Reliever Dellin Betances has emerged as the most intimidating reliever in baseball this season. The 6-foot-8 rookie sports a fastball that regularly hits 99 mph.
He leads all relievers in innings (83), strikeouts (125), and WAR (2.9). His 1.41 ERA has been one of the few stabilities to the Yanks’ roster this season. He will most likely not get the award because voters are often reluctant to give relief pitchers awards due to how unpopular the position is.
The rest of the possibilities, barring a catastrophic meltdown from Abreu, simply do not have enough time or statistics to make their case.
Yordano Ventura of the Kansas City Royals has the second fastest baseball this season, which averages just over 96 mph. He is 12-9 with a 3.25 ERA and has 134 strikeouts in 158 innings this season.
That is a very impressive stat line for any pitcher, let alone a rookie. But Abreu had MVP like numbers, and 12 wins is not enough to win the award.
Another pitcher that deserves a mention is the Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman. Stroman has been very effective with a 3.07 ERA since moving into the rotation in late May. But, he simply did not pitch enough to beat out Abreu.
Abreu’s bat and strong defense set him apart from a pitcher-heavy field in the American League. Unlike the National League’s rookie class, which can be considered weak to say the least, the AL was strong this year.
At the very least, it’s safe to assume we have four future stars in Abreu. Tanaka, Betances and Ventura. And the best part about the four of them?
They are all foreign born players, which speaks to how strong baseball has become as a global brand. Tomorrow’s stars will only to continue and perpetuate that brand.
James Belluscio can be reached at james.belluscio@spartans.ut.edu