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Cincinnati Reds rookies are flooding the 2023 Rookie of the Year market

By Bill Felber

Jul 30, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Matt McLain (9) celebrates with first baseman Spencer Steer (7) after hitting a home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 30, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Matt McLain (9) celebrates with first baseman Spencer Steer (7) after hitting a home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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It won’t be any surprise if Cincinnati Reds rookies litter the voting for National League Rookie of the Year this offseason.

Just last winter, reliever Alexis Diaz and starter Nick Lodolo both got votes. Two seasons ago second baseman Jonathan India was the award winner, beating out (among others) teammates Tyler Stephenson and Vlad Gutierrez.

Voting for a Reds rookie has become a thing in recent seasons, and this year Cincinnati’s roster contains no fewer than five entirely plausible candidates.

None will be the favorite to win. That distinction belongs to Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll, the pre-season favorite. Carroll has a .277 average, 22 home runs and an .865 OPS in 123 games and has been a key reason why Arizona is in post-season contention.

Still, amid an especially rich crop of first-year players — James Outman, Ezequiel Tovar, Stone Garrett, Eury Perez and Sal Frelick — it would be no surprise if as many as four or five Reds share in the vote this year.

Since his midseason arrival, much of the attention has focused on flashy infielder Elly De La Cruz. But the Reds class is far deeper than just De La Cruz, who may only be the fourth or fifth best candidate on his own team.

Try these on for size.

  • Shortstop Matt McLain debuted in May and is batting .293 with an .872 OPS. He shares the team lead in Defensive Runs Saved, ranks 19th among all NL players in WAR (only Carroll among rookies ranks higher) and is 35th in Win Probability Added. Again, only Carroll ranks ahead of McLain among rookies.
  • Outfielder Will Benson is batting .277 with an .867 OPS. Benson was lightly used for the season’s first half, so he doesn’t have enough action to qualify among OPS+ leaders; if he did, at 130, he would rank 12th among all National Leaguers, and would lead the rookie class.
  • Spencer Steer has split time between first base, third base and the outfield, all while hitting .271 with an .817 OPS. At 117, Steer ranks second to Carroll among qualified rookies in OPS+.
  • Andrew Abbott might be the league’s best rookie pitcher. Through 15 starts, he’s 8-3 with a 3.16 ERA.

Abbott, Steer and McLain are almost guaranteed to draw at least some voting support for the award among the 30 voters selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America, one from each major league city. If they all do, it would be a rare single-team trifecta.

The last team to roster three rookies who collected votes for the award was the 2014 New York Mets. That year pitcher Jacob deGrom won the award, while teammates Travis d’Arnaud and Jeurys Familia were both in the running.

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