Murakami Leads a Rookie Class Worth Watching
The first-year players worth watching.
It's a rookie day, and one name towers over the rest. Munetaka Murakami has settled in on the South Side, and a handful of young arms are quietly posting numbers that veterans would envy.
The rookie class
Top first-year players, hitters by OPS (minimum real playing time).
Murakami leads the rookie hitters at .938 with 20 homers, a clear cut above Bryce Eldridge at .857 and TJ Rumfield at .855. On the mound, Gage Jump tops the rookie arms with a 2.04 ERA for the Athletics, with Bradgley Rodriguez (2.10) and Didier Fuentes (2.32) close behind.
Munetaka Murakami
Chicago White Sox0.938OPS rookie›AVG .240 · HR 20 · OPS 0.93841 RBI · 1 SBOPS0.938elite
Bryce Eldridge
San Francisco Giants0.857OPS rookie›AVG .277 · HR 6 · OPS 0.85716 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.857above avg
TJ Rumfield
Colorado Rockies0.855OPS rookie›AVG .288 · HR 12 · OPS 0.85544 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.855above avg
Kevin McGonigle
Detroit Tigers0.817OPS rookie›AVG .284 · HR 6 · OPS 0.81728 RBI · 11 SBOPS0.817above avg
Henry Bolte
Athletics0.814OPS rookie›AVG .317 · HR 2 · OPS 0.81412 RBI · 10 SBOPS0.814above avg
Gage JumpAthletics2.04ERA rookie›ERA 2.04 · WHIP 0.96 · IP 35.1GS 6 · 3 W · 35 KFORM87elite
Didier Fuentes
Atlanta Braves2.32ERA rookie›ERA 2.32 · WHIP 1.03 · IP 31GS 1 · 4 W · 36 KFORM81elite
Bradgley Rodriguez
San Diego Padres2.10ERA rookie›ERA 2.10 · WHIP 1.19 · IP 34.1GS 3 · 1 W · 32 KFORM77elite
Rookies breaking out
Rookies with the biggest OPS jump this week.
Kazuma Okamoto is the one trending up, his OPS climbing 64 points to .805 for the Blue Jays — a late arrival to the rookie conversation, and worth keeping an eye on.
Kazuma Okamoto
Toronto Blue JaysOPS 0.741→0.805 (+0.064) rookie›AVG .245 · HR 19 · OPS 0.80553 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.805above avg
Stats via the MLB Stats API. Colors, form scores and power rankings are Baseball Lens's own.