The Kids Are Alright: A Rookie Roundup
The first-year players worth watching.
Today the column belongs to the newcomers. A Pirates outfielder leads the rookie bats, a White Sox slugger is doing real damage, and a handful of arms are pitching like they've been here for years. Here's who to watch.
The rookie class
Top first-year players, hitters by OPS (minimum real playing time).
Esmerlyn Valdez tops the rookie hitters at a .993 OPS for the Pirates, though Munetaka Murakami is the power source with 20 homers and a .931 mark for the White Sox. On the mound, Bradgley Rodriguez owns the lowest ERA at 2.08 for San Diego, with Boston's Jake Bennett (2.64) and Cleveland's Parker Messick (2.73) not far behind.
Esmerlyn Valdez
Pittsburgh Pirates0.993OPS rookie›AVG .293 · HR 7 · OPS 0.99318 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.993elite
Munetaka Murakami
Chicago White Sox0.931OPS rookie›AVG .239 · HR 20 · OPS 0.93142 RBI · 1 SBOPS0.931elite
Cole Carrigg
Colorado Rockies0.900OPS rookie›AVG .284 · HR 4 · OPS 0.90022 RBI · 2 SBOPS0.900elite
TJ RumfieldColorado Rockies0.866OPS rookie›AVG .301 · HR 12 · OPS 0.86647 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.866above avg
Tristan PetersChicago White Sox0.841OPS rookie›AVG .303 · HR 6 · OPS 0.84135 RBI · 5 SBOPS0.841above avg
Jake Bennett
Boston Red Sox2.64ERA rookie›ERA 2.64 · WHIP 0.94 · IP 47.2GS 8 · 4 W · 35 KFORM82elite
Bradgley Rodriguez
San Diego Padres2.08ERA rookie›ERA 2.08 · WHIP 1.13 · IP 39GS 3 · 1 W · 37 KFORM80elite
Parker Messick
Cleveland Guardians2.73ERA rookie›ERA 2.73 · WHIP 1.07 · IP 112GS 19 · 8 W · 110 KFORM75elite
Rookies breaking out
Rookies with the biggest OPS jump this week.
A.J. Ewing led the week's rookie risers, up 65 points to an .805 OPS for the Mets, with Tristan Peters right on his heels, up 62 to .841 for the White Sox. Chase DeLauter of Cleveland added 45 points to reach .794 — three young bats trending the right way at once.
A.J. Ewing
New York MetsOPS 0.740→0.805 (+0.065) rookie›AVG .282 · HR 7 · OPS 0.80524 RBI · 9 SBOPS0.805above avg- Tristan PetersChicago White SoxOPS 0.779→0.841 (+0.062) rookie›AVG .303 · HR 6 · OPS 0.84135 RBI · 5 SBOPS0.841above avg
Chase DeLauterCleveland GuardiansOPS 0.749→0.794 (+0.045) rookie›AVG .282 · HR 10 · OPS 0.79445 RBI · 3 SBOPS0.794above avg
Stats via the MLB Stats API. Colors, form scores and power rankings are Baseball Lens's own.