The Rookies Are Ready, With One Big Bat Leading
The first-year players worth watching.
It's the first-year class today, and a couple of names are announcing themselves late. Eduardo Valencia is hitting like a veteran in Detroit, and Munetaka Murakami keeps launching them on the South Side. The pitching side is quieter, but the ERAs are loud.
The rookie class
Top first-year players, hitters by OPS (minimum real playing time).
Eduardo Valencia paces our rookie hitters at a 1.008 OPS, though his six homers say his damage is more line drives than launch. Munetaka Murakami carries the class in power with 35, and Esmerlyn Valdez adds 17 from Pittsburgh. On the mound, Alec Gamboa's 1.91 ERA in Boston tops the arms, with Arizona's Brandyn Garcia a tick behind at 1.97.
Eduardo Valencia
Detroit Tigers1.008OPS rookie›AVG .350 · HR 6 · OPS 1.00818 RBI · 0 SBOPS1.008elite
Rafael Flores Jr.
Pittsburgh Pirates0.882OPS rookie›AVG .271 · HR 11 · OPS 0.88225 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.882above avg
Esmerlyn ValdezPittsburgh Pirates0.855OPS rookie›AVG .232 · HR 17 · OPS 0.85547 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.855above avg
TJ Rumfield
Colorado Rockies0.841OPS rookie›AVG .299 · HR 16 · OPS 0.84172 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.841above avg
Munetaka Murakami
Chicago White Sox0.834OPS rookie›AVG .209 · HR 35 · OPS 0.83477 RBI · 1 SBOPS0.834above avg
Brandyn Garcia
Arizona Diamondbacks1.97ERA rookie›ERA 1.97 · WHIP 0.74 · IP 50.1GS 0 · 0 W · 59 KFORM95elite
Alec Gamboa
Boston Red Sox1.91ERA rookie›ERA 1.91 · WHIP 1.15 · IP 33GS 3 · 1 W · 23 KFORM81elite
Bradgley Rodriguez
San Diego Padres2.25ERA rookie›ERA 2.25 · WHIP 1.07 · IP 72GS 4 · 4 W · 79 KFORM80elite
Rookies breaking out
Rookies with the biggest OPS jump this week.
Valencia had the loudest week of the freshmen, adding 44 points of OPS to push past 1.000. Rafael Flores Jr. was right behind, climbing 39 points to .882 for the Pirates.
- Eduardo ValenciaDetroit TigersOPS 0.964→1.008 (+0.044) rookie›AVG .350 · HR 6 · OPS 1.00818 RBI · 0 SBOPS1.008elite
- Rafael Flores Jr.Pittsburgh PiratesOPS 0.843→0.882 (+0.039) rookie›AVG .271 · HR 11 · OPS 0.88225 RBI · 0 SBOPS0.882above avg
Stats via the MLB Stats API. Colors, form scores and power rankings are Baseball Lens's own.