The Rookie of the Year Debate

     

    The 2023 Rookie of the Year conversation had been a non story for the majority of year, It started and stopped with Gunnar Henderson. There were some young players that could bring a specific niche to bring some talking points for debate. Being Josh Jung an electric 3rd baseman when the Rangers were really stomping through the AL West. Jung had 117 hits and an OPS of 812 really good numbers and the team had looked like a potential favorite to win the division and contend for the American League. Another name that was in the mix was Tanner Bibee out of Cleveland. The Guardians have a bright young arm bolstering a 3.05 ERA a WHIP of 1.23 and a 10-3 record. Stellar stuff out of the young arm. In what looks like one of the weakest divisions of Baseball if Cleveland could get over the hump and begin to put pressure on Minnesota there's a world where Bibee can climb back into the race. 

    Masataka Yoshida out of the Boston Red Sox is the other niche that was stirring the pot in regards to the award. Yoshida was the most consistent bat that we have seen from a rookie coming through the first half of the season. Still currently with a .292 batting average he has the 5th best average in the American League. In his peak this season his Batting Average eclipsed .302 it was an incredible feat which made it a conversation. His liabilities in the field and the teams poor performance pulled Yoshida out of the mix like the others. It looked like Gunnar had this award locked in... that is until Triston Casas arrived.

    Casas in the early stretch of the 2023 season had taken sometime to adjust to the major league level. In April the kid was batting .137, in May it climbed all the way up to .257 much better but still not great. In July it skyrocketed to .348 the kid emerged and began to dominate. My claim to fame will always be the blog I posted on this direct site. "Triston Casas is the Next Big Thing" You can read it here on the Bay State Sports Blog. His overall average is at .268 with 108 hits 60 RBIs and 23 bombs. What Casas has done to take himself out of the bottom of the Rookie Class all the way to the top comes down to his On Base + Slugging. Which is a formula that merges how well a hitter gets on base and his slugging percentage. Triston Casas has soared over the months of July, August and September. His OPS has hit a whopping .868 in his rookie season! This stat is absolutely absurd, Josh Jung is bringing .813, Yainer Diaz is at an .843 OPS. Gunnar Henderson is at .802. Triston Casas is demolishing them in this stat. Overall in the MLB he is top 15 putting himself with the likes of Bryce Harper, Juan Soto,  and Kyle Tucker. Absolute mega stars in this game.  

    A look at Gunnar Henderson, the kid is an electric talent at 3rd base for the Baltimore Orioles. He is batting .251 with 117 hits 70 RBI's and 23 bombs. Henderson has also been a great defender and the biggest case for him is the Wins Above Replacement. This is a stat that measures how many wins a player is worth when compared to a replacement level player on his team. Henderson has a 4.7 WAR rounding up to close to 5 wins above a replacement level player. This puts Henderson up to 18 overall in WAR again as a rookie comparing him to his biggest competition Casas has a WAR of 2. The other main point for Gunnar is the team success of the Baltimore Orioles. Gunnar Henderson has come into the league and lead the Baltimore Orioles as a cornerstone franchise player. The Orioles are locked in for the playoffs for the first time in 7 years. 2016 was the last time Baltimore made the playoffs. For the first time in 9 years the Orioles have a shot to win the division. The AL East division title is in their grasp despite the stacked rosters in Tampa and Toronto the Baltimore Orioles can take the East Division crown.

    It just goes to show how electric Triston Casas has been that despite how terrible he played in the beginning of the season that he still has been able to put himself in the conversation with Gunnar Henderson. He has played so well that he has made up severe ground by going from a player that was on the verge of being the next Bobby Dalbec trapped in triple A purgatory to all of a sudden becoming the best bat on the team. Even if he doesn't win rookie of the year he has built himself into becoming the cornerstone first baseman that the Red Sox needed him to be. Casas is my favorite player for the Boston Red Sox I haven't been excited for a young player like this in a long time, he needs to keep working on his defense and keep his bat head strong I will be rooting for him to win the Rookie of the Year. If Gunnar Henderson wins it however it is no slight on Casas, the kid in Baltimore has also been a terrific player for the O's the league looks to be in good hands.