The MLB All-Rookie Team (So far)
The big names are Judge and Bellinger, but lesser known rookies are also having good years and deserve their spots on the All-Rookie Team.
The exploits of rookies Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are well known among baseball fans. Judge was the story of the first half in the American League, as he launched 30 home runs before the All-Star break, many of them mammoth shots. Bellinger was his counterpart in the National League. He hit 22 home runs in 56 games across April and May. Both were All-Stars and participated in the Home Run Derby, which Judge won easily.
Those are the big name, top shelf rookies this year, but there are plenty of other rookies having good seasons. None have been as valuable as Judge and Bellinger, but they’ve been important contributors to their playoff-hopeful ball clubs. Andrew Benintendi, Manny Pina, Paul DeJong and more than one Colorado Rockies pitchers fit in this category.
There are also some rookies having good seasons on teams with little chance at the playoffs, like Johan Camargo and Manuel Margot, of the Braves and Padres, respectively. They won’t get the recognition that their more famous rookie peers will get, but their teams are hoping they can be important pieces in the future.
The season is just past the three-quarters point, so there’s plenty of time left for this list to change. Some of the leaders at specific positions (Judge and Bellinger excluded) are not leading by much and could be passed down the stretch.
The rookie pitchers, especially, could move up or down with a few good or bad outings in the heat of a pennant race. For now, though, here is the MLB All-Rookie Team:
Catcher
C Manny Pina, Milwaukee Brewers
.290/.333/.457, 298 PA, 36 R, 9 HR, 39 RBI, 0 SB
1.9 fWAR, 2.6 bWAR
Pina is not your typical rookie. He’s 30 years old and has bounced around the minor leagues since 2005. He made his major league debut in 2011 and had major league playing time in 2011, 2012, and 2016 before this season. Despite playing in the big leagues in parts of three different years, he didn’t get enough at-bats to exhaust his rookie status.
April was big for Pina. He got off to a very hot start by hitting .375/.423/563 in his first 15 games. He’s cooled off since then, but has still hit a respectable .272/.314/.434 since the beginning of May. That’s solid production for a catcher these days. Pina has been one of the keys to the surprising season for the Milwaukee Brewers, who are just a game-and-a-half behind the Cubs in the NL Central with roughly six weeks to play in the season. The most valuable position player on the Brewers this year has been Travis Shaw. Pina is in the group of players on the next tier below Shaw that includes Ryan Braun, Domingo Santana, Eric Thames, and Orlando Arcia.
Honorable Mention
C Austin Barnes, Los Angeles Dodgers
.293/.411/.513, 180 PA, 29 R, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 4 SB
1.9 fWAR, 1.8 bWAR
The main thing keeping Barnes behind Pina for the catcher position on the All Rookie Team is playing time. The gap between them is more than 100 playing appearances. Barnes has been much better on offense, but Pina takes the advantage with his defense and more playing time.
First Base
1B Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers
.277/.357/.621, 411 PA, 70 R, 34 HR, 79 RBI, 9 SB
3.6 fWAR, 4.0 bWAR
Before exploding upon the scene with the Dodgers this year, Bellinger was a top-100 prospect on the Baseball America list prior to each of the past two seasons. They had him as the number seven prospect in baseball before the 2017 season began. He started the year by crushing Triple-A pitching with the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the Pacific Coast League, then came up to the big leagues on April 25 and continued hitting taters.
Bellinger hit nine long balls in his first 24 game and has continued pounding pitches ever since. He’s currently second in the NL in home runs, behind only the incredible Giancarlo “Mic Drop” Stanton. He’s very likely to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award, which is a longstanding Dodger tradition. They’ve had more Rookies of the Year than any other team in baseball, and it’s not close. Bellinger has been very good at baseball, but could improve his pop culture knowledge:
Honorable Mention
1B Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles
.290/.341/.517, 411 PA, 48 R, 21 HR, 62 RBI, 1 SB
1.5 fWAR, 1.8 bWAR
Mancini isn’t that close to Bellinger in value, but he’s having a good year that deserves to be mentioned. He wasn’t on any of the major top prospect lists, but has been one of the top five hitters on the Orioles so far this year and is third on the team in RBI and fourth in home runs.
Second Base
2B Daniel Robertson, Tampa Bay Rays
.220/.315/.355, 214 PA, 20 R, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 1 SB
0.3 fWAR, 1.0 bWAR
There aren’t any rookie second baseman who are having great years. The St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong and the Washington Nationals’ Wilmer Difo have played many more games at shortstop than second, so I put them at that position. The Cubs’ Ian Happ has more games in the outfield. With those three out of the conversation, it comes down to Daniel Robertson and Carlos Asuaje.
Robertson was on the Baseball America Top 100 prior to the 2015 season when he ranked 66th. He also made the Baseball Prospectus list before the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Coming into this year, he wasn’t on either list. The first two months of the season were a struggle for Robertson, as he had a hard time getting his batting average over the Mendoza Line (.200). He’s been better since the beginning of June, with a .238/.316/.357 batting line in his last 27 games.
Honorable Mention
2B Carlos Asuaje, San Diego Padres
.285/.347/.390, 191 PA, 17 R, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 0 SB
0.6 fWAR, 0.4 bWAR
Asuaje was an 11th round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2013. He was part of the trade in November of 2015 that brought Craig Kimbrel to Boston (along with Manuel Margot and others). Asuaje got a cup of coffee with the Padres last September, then started this year in Triple-A before coming up to the major leagues in late May. In his first extended stretch of big league playing time, the 25-year-old Asuaje is holding his own with a solid .347 on-base percentage that has enabled him to be right around league average as a hitter after league and ballpark effects are taken into account.
Shortstop
SS Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals
.299/.328/.571, 274 PA, 32 R, 18 HR, 44 RBI, 0 SB
2.1 fWAR, 1.4 bWAR
The Cardinals seem to have a knack for finding guys who exceed expectations and DeJong is the latest example. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 draft out of Illinois State University. He hit better in his first professional season than he hit last year, but started this season with a .299/.339/.571 line in 48 games with the Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League. The Cardinals brought him up in late May and he’s been hitting well ever since.
DeJong has significantly outhit every other rookie shortstop in the major leagues this year and has been an asset on defense. There are some warning signs, though. He’s struck out 30.7 percent of the time and walked just 3.6 percent. He also has a .375 Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP). He hasn’t had a BABIP that high since a 10-game stint in rookie ball in 2015.
With 40 games left in the season, DeJong has a chance to hit the second-most home runs ever for a Cardinals rookie. Albert Pujols is at the top of the list for the 37 long balls he hit in 2001. Chris Duncan is second, with 22. DeJong needs just five more dingers to pass Duncan. He’s one of a select group of players in baseball history to hit a home run in his first MLB at-bat.
Honorable Mention
SS Wilmer Difo, Washington Nationals
.278/.342/.380, 244 PA, 32 R, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 6 SB
1.0 fWAR, 1.8 bWAR
Difo hasn’t been the hitter that DeJong has been, but he’s been good on defense for the NL East-leading Washington Nationals. He wouldn’t be getting as much playing time if not for the Trea Turner injury. The Nationals are happy he’s been an adequate replacement.
Third Base
3B Matt Chapman, Oakland Athletics
.230/.301/.514, 166 PA, 21 R, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 0 SB
1.4 fWAR, 2.3 bWAR
Chapman was near the back end of the top 100 lists for both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus prior to this season. The A’s drafted him in the first round of the 2014 draft and he slugged his way through the minor leagues with a .241/.324/.515 batting line and 88 home runs in 362 games. He was off to a great start with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League before the A’s brought him up in mid-June.
It was a rough start for Chapman early on. He hit .146/.222/.244 in his first 12 games while striking out 22 times in 45 plate appearances. Then he had a big 3-for-3 game in which he hit his first two big league home runs. Over the last month, he’s hit .267/.337/.616 and given Oakland fans hope that they have their third baseman of the future. Chapman has also been very good on defense.
Honorable Mention
3B Johan Camargo, Atlanta Braves
.292/.327/.454, 197 PA, 26 R, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 0 SB
1.0 fWAR, 1.0 bWAR
Camargo has mostly played third base and shortstop for the Braves this year, with a handful of games at second base and one appearance in the outfield. He hadn’t shown much with the bat in the minor leagues until this season. In between stints in the major leagues in April and May, Camargo hit .311/.353/.500 with the Gwinnett Braves of the International League. The Braves brought him up for good in early June and he’s been right at league average as a hitter and an asset on defense.
Left Field
LF Andrew Benintendi, Boston Red Sox
.279/.361/.449, 478 PA, 62 R, 17 HR, 67 RBI, 14 SB
2.0 fWAR, 2.2 bWAR
Benintendi isn’t hitting quite as well as he hit in a 34-game sample last season. His batting average and slugging percentage are lower than last year, but much of that could be due to a BABIP that’s regressed from .367 to .302. He’s still been the best rookie left fielder in baseball and a key part of the NL East-leading Boston Red Sox hitting attack. Mookie Betts is the only position player on the Red Sox who has clearly been better than Benintendi so far this year. Earlier this week, he crushed a pair of three-run homers to help lead the Red Sox to victory over the Yankees.
In a world without Aaron Judge, Benintendi would be the leader for the AL Rookie of the Year Award. He’s projected to finish the season with 2.6 WAR (per FanGraphs), which would put him as one of the 20 best Red Sox players in their age 22 season. He would slot in between 1987 Ellis Burks and 1991 Phil Plantier.
Honorable Mention
LF Guillermo Heredia, Seattle Mariners
.287/.348/.395, 313 PA, 38 R, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 1 SB
1.5 fWAR, 1.7 bWAR
Outside of the Pacific Northwest, it’s likely that few baseball fans know of Guillermo Heredia. The Mariners signed him as an amateur free agent in March of 2016. He played in Double-A, Triple-A, and with the Mariners last season and showed good speed on the bases and strong defense in the outfield. With the Mariners this season, Heredia has played mostly left field and center field, providing good defense and a slightly above average bat.
Center Field
CF Bradley Zimmer, Cleveland Indians
.245/.316/.400, 275 PA, 33 R, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 14 SB
1.5 fWAR, 1.3 bWAR
Zimmer was Cleveland’s first round pick in the 2014 June draft. He appeared in the top 100 for both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus prior to each of the last two seasons. After hitting .294/.371/.532 with the Columbus Clippers in Triple-A, he was promoted to Cleveland in the middle of May
This season has had its share of ups and downs for Zimmer. He was mired in an ugly 0-for-36 slump that included 18 strikeouts before finally picking up a hit on Thursday. In his nine games before that slump, he was 13-for-29, with three home runs. Despite the inconsistency on offense, Zimmer has been good enough on defense to warrant a spot in the lineup. He’s easily the best center field option on the team’s big league roster right now, although last year’s rookie sensation, Tyler Naquin, is hitting .310/.367/.500 in Triple-A.
Honorable Mention
CF Manuel Margot, San Diego Padres
.270/.309/.435, 377 PA, 37 R, 12 HR, 30 RBI, 12 SB
1.3 fWAR, 1.5 bWAR
Before Zimmer’s 0-for-36 slump he had a solid edge over Margot in value, but the gap has narrowed and now it’s a coin flip. Margot could easily take over this spot by the end of the season. He made his way up the top prospects list in each of the last three years. He was a consensus top-25 guy before this year after getting into 10 major league games last season. The Padres don’t have any standout hitters this season, so Margot is in the mix with a handful of other players in the 1-2 WAR range. He’s only 22 years old and is in line for a 15 HR/15 SB season, so the future is bright.
Right Field
RF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
.288/.418/.608, 507 PA, 91 R, 37 HR, 80 RBI, 7 SB
6.1 fWAR, 5.6 bWAR
Judge is a shoo-in for the AL Rookie of the Year Award and is currently locked in a battle with Jose Altuve for the AL MVP (with Mike Trout zooming up quickly from behind). He was incredible in the first half, when he had a 198 wRC+ (meaning he was 98 percent better than the average hitter after league and ballpark effects are taken into account). In the second half, he’s been a below average hitter (90 wRC+).
Despit his subpar numbers since the All-Star break, there are signs that Judge is getting back on track. He hit .158/.310/.316 in his first 16 games post-break, but has a .371 OBP and .429 SLG over his last 14 games. He just had a good series against the Yankees’ cross-town rivals, the New York Mets, that included this monster dong off of Robert Gsellman.
Honorable Mention
RF Mitch Haniger, Seattle Mariners
.255/.358/.425, 247 PA, 36 R, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 3 SB
1.2 fWAR, 1.9 bWAR
Haniger was a secondary piece in the Mariners’ offseason trade with the Diamondbacks that saw Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte go to Arizona and Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and Zac Curtis come to Seattle. He got off to a terrific start, hitting .342/.447/.608 through April 25, but an injury sidelined him until June 11. He hit .203/.303/.316 across June and July, then was forced to the DL after taking a 95-mph fastball to the face on a Jacob deGrom pitch. He started a minor league rehab stint on August 12 and could return to the big leagues any day now.
Designated Hitter
DH Matt Davidson, Chicago White Sox
.238/.284/.500, 324 PA, 37 R, 22 HR, 51 RBI, 0 SB
0.2 fWAR, 0.1 bWAR
You don’t see many rookies getting significant playing time at the DH position. It’s an older man’s spot. Of course, Davidson isn’t a typical rookie. He’s already 26 years old and hasn’t been on any major top prospect lists since before the 2014 season. He played in 31 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013 and got into one game for the White Sox last year.
Davidson was having a good season in the power department before a wrist injury sent him to the DL on August 4. Even with the missed time on the DL, Davidson is second on the team in home runs and fourth on the team in RBI. He hasn’t been that valuable, however, because he’s a below-average runner and provides little defensive value.
Honorable Mention
DH Ben Gamel, Seattle Mariners
.294/.344/.417, 408 PA, 57 R, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 4 SB
1.6 fWAR, 1.1 bWAR
I’m putting Gamel here because he would be the next-best rookie position player on the list. He’s not a DH, though. He’s split time between left and right field in the Mariners’ mix-and-match outfield and has been a productive hitter for the team. He was acquired by the Mariners last August in a deal with the Yankees for two minor leaguers.
Starting Pitcher
SP Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies
11 W, 127.7 IP, 82 K, 3.74 ERA, 4.75 FIP, 1.37 WHIP
1.5 fWAR, 3.7 bWAR
The Colorado Rockies have four guys who are in the top 12 in baseball in FanGraphs WAR for rookie starting pitchers. German Marquez is at the top of the FanGraphs list, which uses FIP instead of ERA. Kyle Freeland is the top rookie starting pitcher based on Baseball-Reference WAR. Freeland leads the Rockies starting pitchers in wins, innings pitched, and ERA, so he gets the top spot on the All-Rookie Team.
Freeland was the Rockies first round pick in the 2014 draft. He was a top 100 prospect before the 2015 season, but not in either of the last two years. Since signing with the Rockies, he made his way up from the rookie league to Triple-A last year, then made his major league debut in April of this year and has been one of the best starting pitchers on a surprising Rockies team that currently holds the top wild card spot in the National League. In July, he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before allowing a one-out hit to Melky Cabrera.
Honorable Mention #1
SP German Marquez, Colorado Rockies
9 W, 113.3 IP, 107 K, 4.13 ERA, 3.79 FIP
2.5 fWAR, 2.8 bWAR
After a strong performance in Double-A in 2016, Marquez was named the #53 prospect in baseball by Baseball America prior to this season (and #73 by Baseball Prospectus). He pitched well early this year in Triple-A, then came up to the Rockies in late April. His first start was ugly: eight earned runs in four innings. He’s been better since that rough debut.
Honorable Mention #2
SP Jordan Montgomery, New York Yankees
7 W, 121 IP, 115 K, 3.94 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.22 WHIP
2.3 fWAR, 2.4 bWAR
Montgomery had good numbers last year in the minor leagues. Pitching in Double-A and Triple-A, he won 14 games and had a 2.13 ERA, with 134 strikeouts in 139 innings. That earned him an opportunity to pitch for the Yankees this year and he’s run with it. Only Luis Severino has been better in the rotation than Montgomery. He’s outpitched Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, and Michael Pineda. If the Yankees hold on to their wild card spot, Montgomery will deserve a good portion of the credit.
Relief Pitchers
RP Chad Green, New York Yankees
2 W, 50.7 IP, 74 K, 1.95 ERA, 2.13 FIP, 0.73 WHIP
1.6 fWAR, 2.1 bWAR
The big names in the Yankees bullpen at the start of the season were Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances. They’ve since added David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to create a lockdown set of relievers for late in the game. Despite all of the better-known relievers in the Yankees pen, it’s rookie Chad Green who has been the most valuable arm.
Green pitched 45 2/3 innings last year, which wasn’t enough to exhaust his rookie eligibility. From last season to this, he’s greatly improved his strikeout rate, reduced his walk rate and become much stingier in home runs allowed. He’s spent most of his time this year pitching in the sixth or seventh inning and has done a masterful job of limiting the other team’s hitters when called upon to replace a struggling starter.
Honorable Mention
RP Danny Barnes, Toronto Blue Jays
2 W, 51.0 IP, 52 K, 2.82 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 0.98 WHIP
0.6 fWAR, 1.5 bWAR
Barnes is a 35th round pick who has been kicking around the minor leagues since 2010. He pitched in 12 games for the Blue Jays last year and had a 3.95 ERA. He’s been better this year, pitching in 43 games with a 2.90 ERA. He’s pitched mostly in the seventh inning this year.
All-Rookie Lineup
C Manny Pina
1B Cody Bellinger
2B Daniel Robertson
SS Paul DeJong
3B Matt Chapman
LF Andrew Benintendi
CF Bradley Zimmer
RF Aaron Judge
DH Matt Davidson
SP Kyle Freeland
RP Chad Green
Next: Mets still have pieces to move
Bench
C Austin Barnes
1B Trey Mancini
2B Carlos Asuaje
SS Wilmer Difo
3B Johan Camargo
LF Guillermo Heredia
CF Manuel Margot
RF Mitch Haniger
DH Ben Gamel
SP German Marquez
SP Jordan Montgomery
RP Danny Barnes