Corey Seager Exceeding Expectations for NL Rookie of the Year
The Rookie of the Year candidates have been making progress to become the best players in baseball for the future to come and one of those candidates is Corey Seager.
MiLB.com used FanGraphs’ Steamer600 to project the MLB prospects’ numbers in the majors.
These are the factors that were included:
-Age
-Performance
-Levels of Competition
The No. 1 rookie that was discussed is the one and only Corey Seager. The 22-year-old, who hit .293 with an .894 OPS in 2015, was a force to be reckon with. In the 2016 season, Seager is hitting .311/.369/.519 with 26 home runs.
According to FanGraphs, Seager has a WAR of 7.6 which is tied for third with Mookie Betts in the majors. Mike Trout (9.2) leads all MLB players with Kris Bryant (8.4) in second place.
He is still exceeding expectations in his first full season with the Dodgers, but everyone has to wait and see how he improves into a potential Hall of Fame player.
Corey Seager: The Rookie Who Can Do It AllEarly in the season, one name that was mentioned in every conversation was shortstop Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies.
He was the frontrunner of the National League Rookie of the Year, however he tore a ligament in his left thumb in early August. Before his injury, Story hit .272/.341/567 with 27 home runs and eight steals in 97 games.
It seemed to be a two-man race for rookies honors, but since Story has gone down Seager has seemingly run away with the award
Another NL rookie that has turned into a full-time second basemen is Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals. Turner, 23, has been the fill-in for Daniel Murphy at second on July 8.
He has produced the numbers that the Nationals wanted to see out of their rookie by hitting .340/.362/.560 with 12 homers and 29 stolen bases with only 304 plate appearances.
During his time in the minors, Turner hit 19 home runs in 1,192 plate appearances. His power increase came at the right time to impress everyone around him. Steamer had Turner to hit 10 home runs over 600 plate appearances in the beginning of the season and to hit with a .282/.325/.398 line.
In the American League, many people were asking, “Who is Gary Sanchez?”
The rookie tied the Major League Baseball record as the quickest player to 20 home runs in 51 games. Sanchez is the main Baby Bomber in the young Yankees clubhouse.
In 93 games, The Yankees’ catcher hit with a .274/.330/.485 line with 18 homers at Triple-A and Double-A. FanGraphs projected the 23-year-old with a .249/.299/.427 line with 17 home runs.
Sanchez is hitting .311/.387/.689 in 190 at-bats in the 2016 season and is still the frontrunner for the American League Rookie of the Year award.
Here are the stats..so now what?
Who do you pick for the NL and AL Rookie of the Year awards? Comment below.
