AL Rookie of the Year Rankings: Oakland A's Stud Jarrod Parker Cracks the Top 5

Jun 7, 2018

A couple nights ago, Oakland A's rookie hurler, Jarrod Parker, very nearly did the unthinkable: No-hit the mighty Texas Rangers.

Alas, Parker fell a few outs short of a historic no-no. Nonetheless, he proved with his domination of the Rangers that his early big league success is no fluke. Parker has great stuff, and he knows how to use it. The A's have themselves something special.

Parker had been on the fringe of the American League Rookie of the Year race since the A's called him up in late April. But after his recent successful starts, it's time to move him into the top five contenders for the award.

Here are this week's AL Rookie of the Year rankings.

Note: Feel free to check out last week's rankings.

Honorable Mentions

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Quintin Berry, OF, Detroit Tigers

He's only been around for a short while, but man is he fun to watch.

Yoenis Cespedes, CF, Oakland Athletics

He's been pretty good since the A's activated him off the disabled list. I have a hunch he'll climb back into the top five eventually.

Wei-Yin Chen, SP, Baltimore Orioles

Like many Orioles players, Chen is starting to come back down to earth.

Ryan Cook, RP, Oakland Athletics

Among AL rookie relievers with at least 25 innings pitched, his 0.72 ERA is the lowest.

Scott Diamond, SP, Minnesota Twins

Where would the Twins' rotation be without him?

Drew Hutchison, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

He's been very good in his last two starts. Keep an eye on him.

Jesus Montero, C/DH, Seattle Mariners

He's played in more games than any other rookie in the Junior Circuit, and he's starting to come around after a prolonged slump.

Drew Smyly, SP, Detroit Tigers

It was fun while it lasted, but he's not fooling anyone anymore.

5. Jarrod Parker, SP, Oakland Athletics

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Last Week: Unranked

Seven different AL rookie starting pitchers have made more starts than Jarrod Parker, who has only made eight starts. However, the numbers he's compiled in those eight starts definitely stand out.

Parker has a modest 2-2 record, but he has a 2.40 ERA, and he's holding opponents to a .205 batting average. No other rookie starter with at least eight starts has an ERA as low as Parker's, and his opponents' batting average is also tops among rookie starters with at least eight starts.

Parker has been particularly good lately. He has a 0.43 ERA in his last three starts, with 18 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. He's given up just 10 hits in those 21 innings.

The only real issue with Parker is his tendency to walk the ballpark. He's walked at least three batters in five of his last six starts, and he has a BB/9 of 4.44.

Lately, Parker's walks haven't been hurting him. That's probably because nobody's been able to hit him.

4. Will Middlebrooks, 3B, Boston Red Sox

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Last Week: No. 3

Will Middlebrooks' situation in Boston is complicated. Bobby Valentine wants Middlebrooks' bat in the lineup, but he also has to worry about giving Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Gonzalez playing time.

Of the three, it's pretty clear that Middlebrooks is going to be the odd man out when Valentine can only fit two of them in his lineup.

This has been the case in the last couple days, as Middlebrooks hasn't started in either of Boston's last two games. This is likely to be the case until Youkilis is traded (if he is traded, of course).

So for the time being, it's not going to be easy for Middlebrooks to add to his numbers. And that's a shame, as his numbers are pretty darn good.

In 26 games, Middlebrooks is hitting .314/.340/.559 with six home runs and 22 RBI. He's collected at least one hit in each of his last seven starts.

Middlebrooks has been very good, and he obviously features prominently in the AL Rookie of the Year race. However, his chase for the award won't really take off until he's playing every day.

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3. Felix Doubront, SP, Boston Red Sox

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Last Week: No. 4

Last week, I had Middlebrooks ranked No. 3 and Felix Doubront ranked No. 4.

I decided to flip-flop the two, because, well, Doubront has been pretty darn good for close to a month at this point.

Doubront's numbers for the season are solid. He has an impressive 6-2 record to go along with a 3.75 ERA, and he has 66 strikeouts in 62.1 innings pitched. His K/9 of 9.53 ranks third among all American League pitchers and second among rookies.

Doubront has been especially good in his last five starts, going 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 30 innings.

My only gripe with Doubront is that he basically has a six-inning ceiling. He's come close on several occasions, but he just hasn't been able to crack the seven-inning plateau in any of his starts this season. The main reason why is his inefficiency, as only two pitchers in the AL throw more pitchers per inning than Doubront does.

Still, he's been remarkably consistent this season, and he's the only Red Sox starter who can say that.

2. Yu Darvish, SP, Texas Rangers

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Last Week: No. 2

Yu Darvish hasn't been as good in his last six starts as he was in his first five starts, but he certainly hasn't been as bad as a lot of people probably think.

Those first five starts were, for the most part, excellent. Darvish went 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA, and he had 33 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched.

In his last six starts, Darvish is 3-3 with a 4.46 ERA. He's had to deal with a lot of extra baserunners, in large part thanks to an elevated walk rate.

Nonetheless, Darvish's numbers for the season are still solid. He has a 7-3 record and a 3.34 ERA, and he's done a good job of wriggling out of trouble all season long. His 1.46 WHIP may look bad, but he's managed to keep many of those baserunners from crossing the plate.

His ability to punch hitters out has helped. Darvish's K/9 of 9.76 is tops among AL rookies and second only to Max Scherzer among all AL pitchers.

He may not be Cy Young material, but Darvish's first big league season is going pretty well.

1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

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Last Week: No. 1

Do you have a man crush on Mike Trout yet?

You should. He's the best rookie in Major League Baseball, and he's well on his way to becoming one of the game's best all-around players.

Trout's numbers for the season jump off the page. He's hitting .331/.385/.547 with five home runs, 22 RBI, and nine stolen bases in 35 games. His .931 OPS is tops among AL rookies by a pretty comfortable margin.

Trout has been hot lately, batting an impressive .415 over his last 10 games. His 0-for-3 performance on Tuesday night broke up a string of four consecutive multi-hit games.

And have you seen Trout play defense? Whether in left field or right field, there's no play he can't make.

The most telling stat is Trout's WAR. According to FanGraphs, it's up to 2.4 on the season, far and away the best mark among major league rookies.

He's the best rookie in the AL right now, and it's not close. So get going on that man crush if you haven't already.