As we head into the final three weeks
of the season, it's time to start taking a serious look at the Pat Listach Rookie of the Year
Award candidates. Remember, a rookie is defined as a player in his
first year of DMBL eligibility (for batters, that's 250 MLB plate
appearances for non-catchers; 200 MLB plate appearances for catchers;
10 starts for starting pitchers; and 30 games, with at least 10 in
relief, for relievers). This year, there are 113 rookies: 47 batters
and 66 pitchers (20 starters, 45 relievers and one swing man).
And the leading candidates are...
Phil Plantier's Top 5 Rookie Batters
(in
alphabetical order)
|
Chone Figgins,
COL
|
IF/OF
|
.258, .706 OPS, 19 3B, 78
R, 21 SB, 69.0 RC, 608 PA
|
Lew Ford, TIJ
|
OF
|
.302, .805 OPS, 93 R, 23
2B, 83.8 RC, 580 PA
|
Ross Gload, VAN
|
1B/OF
|
.404, 1.019 OPS, 7 HR, 37
RBI, 53.9 RC, 235 PA
|
Victor
Martinez, VAN
|
C
|
.300, .912 OPS, 34 HR, 122
RBI, 111.6 RC, 613 PA
|
Wily Mo Pena,
ARK
|
OF
|
.301, 1.100 OPS, 15 HR, 36
RBI, 32.8 RC, 145 PA
|
Vancouver's Victor
Martinez leads rookies in just about every offensive category, and
he's doing it as a catcher! The 26-year-old switch-hitter, who was
selected in the 9th round (#120) as an ineligible prospect in last
year's draft, just might be the first catcher ROY in league history.
Martinez leads all rookies in hits (166), doubles (34), slugging
percentage (.553), OPS (.912) and runs created (111.6). Most impressive
of all, however, are his 34 home runs, 122 runs batted in and 306 total
bases -- which not only lead all rookies by a wide margin, but also all
catchers in the league! (In fact, among all players, Martinez is tied
for 5th in RBIs and is 6th in HRs and 7th in TBs.) Martinez also had a
19-game hitting streak this year, and was the only rookie voted to
start in the All-Star Game. If there's a knock on Martinez, it's that
he doesn't have a great arm -- he's thrown out just 14 baserunners in
52 tries, a woeful .269 CS%. He's also proven to be a much better
hitter against righties (.320, .971 OPS) than lefties (.241, .743 OPS).
Let's not give the award to Martinez
just yet, however -- there are a couple other candidates who deserve
some consideration, especially if they can turn it up a notch over the
final few weeks of the season. Columbia's Chone Figgins
is hitting a rather unimpressive .258 (.706 OPS), but he does 19
triples this season -- just one shy of the DMB Era record, set by
Phoenix's Juan Uribe in 2002. (Las Vegas's Carl Crawford just tied the record with his 20th
triple this week.) As impressive a season Martinez is having, he isn't
close to setting any league records! Figgins, the second pick overall
in this year's draft, is a 27-year-old utility man, having played
third, short and all three outfield positions for the Rattlesnakes this
year. Figgins also leads all rookies with 21 stolen bases, though he's
been caught 14 times, an ugly .600 SB%... Figgins's teammate, Ryan Freel, ranks second among rookies in stolen
bases (17), with a slightly better (but still not good) SB% of .708.
Freel also leads all rookies in walks (56) and HBP (13), though his
.243 batting average keeps his OBP at just .339... Tijuana's Lew Ford is an interesting candidate, leading
rookies in runs scored (93) and ranking second in hits (159), triples
(9), runs created (83.8), batting average (.302), OBP (.362) and OPS
(.805)... The only other rookies with enough plate appearances to
qualify for the leaderboard are Philly's Khalil
Greene (.230, .630 OPS, 24 2B, 53 R in 538 PA), Phoenix's Pedro Feliz (..244, .643 OPS, 27 2B, 71 RBI in
512 PA), Vancouver's Jason Bay (.245, .756
OPS, 21 HR, 66 RBI in 471 PA) and Westwood's Eric
Valent (.244, .759 OPS, 18 HR, 51 RBI in 433 PA).
Put me in, coach! These
rookies have made the most of their limited playing time so far this
season, but probably aren't seeing enough action to make an impact on
the ROY voters. Vancouver's Ross Gload is
scorching the ball with a .404 batting average and a 1.019 OPS (13
doubles, 7 homers, 37 RBIs) but only has 235 plate appearances this
year as he's in an unusual platoon -- he's a lefty, but he's facing
almost exclusively left-handed pitching... Arkansas's David Newhan (.384, .946 OPS, 4 HR, 39 RBI in 210
PA) is in a more traditional platoon arrangement, a southpaw seeing
mostly right-handed pitchers... Newhan's teammate, Wily
Mo Pena, was putting up numbers comparable to another Golden Falcon
-- Barry Bonds -- but cooled off considerably
after missing six weeks with an injury. He's now hitting "only" .301
with a 1.110 OPS (and 15 HR) in just 145 PA... Termel
Sledge was hitting a respectable .304 (.836 OPS) in 246 PA but was
released by Hillsborough for undisclosed disciplinary reasons... The
first overall pick of the draft, Arkansas's David
Wright, is mostly watching from the bench but hasn't looked
overmatched in limited action (.256, .759 OPS in 212 PA).
Phil Plantier's Top 5 Rookie Starters
(in
alphabetical order)
|
David Bush, NWK
|
SP
|
13-4, 5.64 ERA, 14.9 R/9,
.429 QS%, 57 BB, 84 K, 159.2 IP
|
Jose Contreras,
PHX
|
SP
|
6-10, 6.46 ERA, 16.2 R/9,
.375 QS%, 73 BB, 130 K, 138.0 IP
|
Zach Greinke,
PHI
|
SP
|
8-11, 5.47 ERA, 12.2 R/9,
.429 QS%, 24 BB, 120 K, 176.0 IP
|
Noah Lowry, PHX
|
SP
|
10-14, 5.79 ERA, 14.5 R/9,
.357 QS%, 49 BB, 118 K, 152.1 IP
|
Bobby
Madritsch, VAN
|
SP
|
14-7, 4.22 ERA, 12.6 R/9,
.500 QS%, 68 BB, 125 K, 181.1 IP
|
No less an authority than baseball
guru Earl Weaver taught that the best place to
break in a rookie is in long relief, not the starting rotation. Many
great starting pitchers have had their careers start with an ugly
rookie year;
for an example of what can go wrong, look no further than the No. 1
pick of last year's draft, Tijuana's Dontrelle
Willis, who suffered through a 4-16 season (6.05 ERA, 1.75 WHIP).
The flip side of the coin, of course,
is that a
rookie starting pitcher who succeeds against such long odds is going to
get plenty of notice. In fact, three out of the last seven Pat Listach Rookie of the Year
Award winners have been starting pitchers -- and, in 2002, a rookie
won the Ben McDonald Pitcher
of the Year Award. (And let's not forget that Big Ben himself as a
rookie when he had that great season of 1991!)
And once again this year, there is a rookie
starting pitcher with a shot at winning the award: Bobby
Madritsch. Selected with the Fist's second pick in the first round
(#8 overall), the southpaw just might be the only guy with a chance to
steal the ROY from batterymate Victor Martinez.
The Lakota Sioux ranks first among rookies in wins (14), ERA (4.22),
H/9 (8.9), HR/9 (0.6), OPS against (.698), quality starts (14), QS%
(.500), shutouts (2), complete games (7) and innings (181.1). Among all
DMBL pitchers, he's tied for 1st in complete games, tied 2nd in
shutouts and HR/9, tied for 7th in wins and is 8th in OPS against. And
he's doing all this as a lefty in a league where most lefties get eaten
alive!
Making Madritsch's debut season even
more impressive is when you compare it to the other rookie starters
this season. Just three other starters are having what could charitably
be described as "solid" campaigns: Newark's David
Bush (13-4, 5.64 ERA, 14.9 R/9, .429 QS%), Philly's Zack Greinke (8-11, 5.47 ERA, 12.2 R/9, .429 QS%)
and Phoenix's Noah Lowry (10-14, 5.79 ERA,
14.5 R/9, .357 QS%). Bush leads all rookies (and is 3rd in the league)
with a .765 W%, but that probably has more to do with the fact that the
Sugar Bears average 7.5 runs per game in his starts. Greinke leads all
rookie starters in R/9 (12.2), BB/9 (1.2) and K:BB (5.0), but he also
leads all rookies in homers allowed (38 in 176.0 IP, or 1.9 HR/9)...
Phoenix's Jose Contreras -- yes, he is a rookie at age 33, despite being
drafted with the first pick of the second round (#15 overall) in the
2003 draft -- leads all rookies in strikeouts (130) and K/9 (8.5), but
won't get many votes with a 6.46 ERA, 16.2 R/9 and 6-10 record...
Hillsborough has two left-handed rookies in the rotation -- Erik Bedard (4-13, 7.26 ERA, 18.3 R/9, .172 QS%)
and Cliff Lee (3-9, 8.42 ERA, 18.1 R/9, .235
QS%) -- which helps to explain the Destroyers' awful season this
year... The only other rookie with a start this year is Chris Capuano, a free-agent pick-up by Philly
later traded to Las Vegas for Juan Rincon and
a 6th-round pick. Capuano didn't see any action with the Animals and
was bombed in his one start for the Rat Pack (1.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 1
K) before being sent back down to Triple-A.
Phil Plantier's Top 5 Rookie Relievers
(in
alphabetical order)
|
Yhency
Brazoban, STP
|
RP
|
2-2, 1 SV, 2.65 ERA, 12.7
R/9, 7.2 K/9, 88.1 IP
|
Kiko Calero, PHI
|
RP
|
1-4, 4 SV, 3.44 ERA, 9.2
R/9, 10.2 K/9, 65.1 IP
|
Mike Gonzalez,
LV-NWK
|
RP
|
4-4, 8 SV, 3.12 ERA, 10.6
R/9, 11.4 K/9, 86.2 IP
|
Matt Miller, CAR
|
RP
|
6-5, 0 SV, 2.77 ERA, 11.0
R/9, 9.0 K/9, 87.2 IP
|
Shingo Takatsu,
HBK-ARK
|
SP
|
5-3, 3 SV, 3.34 ERA, 12.0
R/9, 6.0 K/9, 94.1 IP
|
Long relief
might be the best place to break in a rookie reliever, but that means
you don't have the honor of starting games or the glory of closing them
out -- and no wins or saves means little national attention. And yet,
the only reliever ever to win the ROY was John
Rocker, and he was pitching in middle relief when he won it with
Arkansas in '99.
This year's crop of relievers certainly hopes that the voters keep that
in mind this year, because of the 25 rookies with at least one relief
appearance this season, just one could be considered a closer -- and
his numbers are astonishingly bad.
The Sugar Bears had three rookies in
their starting rotation last year; this year, they have five rookies in
their bullpen! Of the five, three have had great seasons, and of those
three, Mike Gonzalez might be the best of all.
The 27-year-old lefty was taken by Las Vegas with the No. 9 pick in
this year's draft, but was traded to Newark for Pat
Burrell last month. His stats combined rank him first among rookie
relievers in appearances (75), strikeouts (110), K/9 (11.4) and K:BB
(5.0); he's 2nd in R/9 (10.6) and tied for 2nd in saves (8); and he's
3rd in ERA (3.12). The other top rookies in Newark's pen are Akinori Otsuka (4-4, 8 SV, 3.43 ERA, 12.3 R/9,
10.4 K/9) and Orber Moreno (6-4, 1 SV, 3.89
ERA, 11.6 R/9, 6.7 K/9); mid-season pick-ups Kevin
Gregg (5.40 ERA, 16.2 R/9 in 6.2 IP) and Matt
Wise (5.73 ERA, 18.0 R/9 in 22.0 IP) are roster fillers.
The Mighty Men also have a youth
movement going on in the bullpen, led by middle-man Yhency
Brazoban. The 25-year-old righty leads all relievers, not just
rookies, with 17 holds; he also leads all rookies with a 2.65 ERA in
88.2 IP, but his 12.7 R/9 is a little high (mostly due to his 4.3
BB/9). Southpaws Joe Horgan (4-4, 2 SV, 5.00
ERA, 15.3 R/9) and John Parrish (7-2, 4.31
ERA, 14.5 R/9) are the team's garbage men... Another top reliever who
put up stats across two teams is Shingo Takatsu,
Hoboken's 4th round pick (#46) subsequently
traded to Arkansas for an eighth-rounder next year. Takatsu has been
impressive for both clubs, going a combined 5-3 (3 SV) with a 3.34 ERA
and 12.0 R/9 in 94.1 IP... Carolina's Matt Miller
is 2nd in ERA (2.77), tied for 2nd in relief wins (6), and is 3rd in
R/9 (11.0), and has struck out 88 men in 87.2 IP... Philly's Kiko Calero, taken in the second round (#20), has
lived up to the hype, leading all rookies in R/9 (9.2) and H/9 (6.6),
with a 3.44 ERA and 74 Ks in 65.1 IP... Relievers having
good-but-not-great debuts: Phoenix's Jason Frasor
(2-3, 4.39 ERA, 12.9 R/9); Vancouver's Ryan Madson
(1-2, 1 SV, 4.08 ERA, 11.8 R/9) and Westwood's Frank
Francisco (1-1, 3 SV, 4.86 ERA, 13.4 R/9).
Though several rookies have picked up
a few saves here and there, only one freshman is considered his club's
closer: Hillsborough's Chad Cordero. The
23-year-old second-round pick (#15 overall) leads his team in save
opportunities with 21, but has just 11 saves and 10 blown saves to show
for it -- a scary-bad .476 BS%. On the other hand, Cordero's peripheral
numbers (.715 ERA, 17.1 R/9, 1.8 HR/9, 1.6 K:BB) are so ugly it's
surprising he hasn't blown all 21!
Phil Plantier, one of the top
prospects of the last decade, was picked by baseball guru Bill James in
1991 as the player most likely to lead the majors in HRs during the
1990s. In 1994, at age 24, he hit 47 round-trippers with 118 RBIs for
the Charleston Chiefs, his first and last DMBL season. He's currently
an analyst for Fox Sports Net. Click
Here for past articles.
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