After Historic Season, How Are Rookies Grading in 2023 MLB Postseason?
The regular season was one for the books for Major League Baseball's rookie class, and for some the journey didn't stop there.
So, let's issue grades for 10 rookies who have made some kind of mark on the 2023 postseason.
There have been more rookies on the big stage than this, but it seemed wise to focus on the ones who've gotten an ample chance to show what they can do. As in, hitters who've been regulars and starting pitchers who've made at least one start.
Some are still going. Others have already gone home. Either way, there's enough to grade them based on not only what they've done, but also how they've done it.
In proper classroom fashion, we'll go in alphabetical order by last name.
OF Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
1 of 10
Age: 23
Regular Season Stats: 155 G, 645 PA, 25 HR, 54 SB, .285 AVG, .362 OBP, .506 SLG
Postseason Stats: 5 G, 23 PA, 2 HR, 2 SB, .412 AVG, .565 OBP, .824 SLG
Corbin Carroll was already the presumptive NL Rookie of the Year, and now he's trying to join Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez as an October legend in Arizona.
Carroll's fingerprints are all over the Diamondbacks' sweeps of the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series. Most of them are clustered on his first four games, when he got on base at a historic clip:
It was never any secret that Carroll possessed power and especially speed, but what's shown through as much as those things is his sharp eye for the strike zone.
He's chased only 21.3 percent of the pitches he's seen outside the zone, safely below the leaguewide average of 28.6 percent. He's walked six times and struck out only three times. The latter is a figure that 22 different players have reached just in one game so far.
There's not a whole lot left to say. Of the rookies still standing in the playoffs, Carroll is the foremost A student.
Grade: A
OF Evan Carter, Texas Rangers
2 of 10
Age: 21
Regular Season Stats: 23 G, 75 PA, 5 HR, 3 SB, .306 AVG, .413 OBP, .645 SLG
Postseason Stats: 6 G, 25 PA, 1 HR, 1 SB, .389 AVG, .560 OBP, .778 SLG
How green is Evan Carter? So green that he's still technically a prospect, and one who ranked at No. 7 overall in Joel Reuter's most recent top 100.
You'd never know it from how he performed in the Rangers' romp over the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card and Division Series. He collected a hit in every game and joined Carroll in making on-base history.
Indeed, numbers pertaining to Carter's plate approach are shockingly similar to Carroll's. He's chased 20.0 percent of the pitches he's seen outside the zone, with six walks against four strikeouts.
Unlike Carroll, who's averaged a modest 85.7 mph, Carter has also made solid contact in averaging 92.6 mph on his batted balls. Most solid of all was the two-run homer he hit off Zach Eflin to help finish off the Rays sweep.
Following a couple days off, Carter immediately put himself back on center stage with a double, a run scored and a clutch catch against Houston in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday.
Grade: A
LHP DL Hall, Baltimore Orioles
3 of 10
Age: 25
Regular Season Stats: 18 G, 3 GF, 19.1 IP, 18 H (2 HR), 23 K, 5 BB, 3.26 ERA
Postseason Stats: 2 G, 3.1 IP, 1 H (0 HR), 6 K, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA
There aren't many positives for the Orioles to take away from their return to the postseason after seven years away. To get swept and to lead for just one half-inning is no fun at all.
But then again, there is DL Hall.
He wasn't really a spotlighted part of Baltimore's bullpen going into the Division Series, but he more than delivered when Brandon Hyde called on him in Games 1 and 3. He got five outs in both games, including six by way of the K.
Rangers hitters just couldn't do much against Hall's fastball, with which he got as high as 99 mph with a 42.9 percent whiff rate on the swings against it.
Though he was drafted as a starter as the No. 21 overall pick in 2017, Hall seems to be fully on the relief path these days. But if he keeps giving off early Josh Hader vibes, that should work out just fine for the Orioles.
Grade: B
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3B/SS Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
4 of 10
Age: 22
Regular Season Stats: 150 G, 622 PA, 38 HR, 10 SB, .255 AVG, .325 OBP, .489 SLG
Postseason Stats: 3 G, 13 PA, 1 HR, 0 SB, .500 AVG, .538 OBP, .750 SLG
The lasting image of Gunnar Henderson in his first postseason is unfortunately one he'd like to forget.
It's 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth in Game 1 of the Division Series against the Rangers, and he leads off with a single...only to get thrown out at second base moments later.
But lest anyone hold this against the likely AL Rookie of the Year, the play was supposed to be a hit-and-run and Aaron Hicks missed the sign. Not Henderson's fault, in other words.
As to his credits, he actually had a better chase rate than both Carroll and Carter and the eight balls he put in play averaged an eye-popping 97.9 mph.
It's therefore a shame about that lasting image. Because even if it will be at least another year before he gets to continue, Henderson got started on building a strong postseason resume this year.
Grade: A
2B Edouard Julien, Minnesota Twins
5 of 10
Age: 24
Regular Season Stats: 109 G, 408 PA, 16 HR, 3 SB, .263 AVG, .381 OBP, .459 SLG
Postseason Stats: 6 G, 22 PA, 1 HR, 0 SB, .294 OBP, .455 OBP, .588 SLG
Edouard Julien isn't going to win the AL Rookie of the Year, but he might have been the most underrated rookie in either league this season.
He got on base at a .396 clip after settling into regular duty at second base on June 10, and he kept it right on up in the six games the Twins played against the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros.
His chase rate? Try 10.4 percent, the best of any hitter of the playoffs.
Julien also showed off what power he has, particularly as he refused to go quietly in Minnesota's season-ending loss in Game 4 of the Division Series. He led off with a double and it was his solo home run that cut Houston's lead to one in the sixth inning.
Less great is that Julien struck out eight times. That's not a failure specific to him among Twins hitters, to be fair, but his tendency toward being overly passive showed at times.
Grade: B
3B Josh Jung, Texas Rangers
6 of 10
Age: 25
Regular Season Stats: 122 G, 515 PA, 23 HR, 1 SB, .266 AVG, .315 OBP, .467 SLG
Postseason Stats: 6 G, 25 PA, 1 HR, 0 SB, .391 AVG, .400 OBP, .739 SLG
After his first half earned him a starting spot on the American League All-Star team, Josh Jung's second half didn't go quite as well.
He broke his left thumb in August and he was clearly off his game after he returned on Sep. 18. In 13 games, he hit just .196 and recorded only two extra-base hits.
Well, go figure that he had three extra-base hits just in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series and that he began the Championship Series with five on his record for the playoffs. There's real oomph at work there, as his batted balls have averaged 92.1 mph.
Jung has also provided reminders that he's one of the top defensive third basemen around. He notably started a huge double play that got the Rangers out of trouble in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.
In all, the rookie is a major reason the Rangers were hardly challenged in setting up their showdown with the Astros on the doorstep of the World Series.
Grade: A
3B/DH Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins
7 of 10
Age: 24
Regular Season Stats: 58 G, 239 PA, 15 HR, 6 SB, .309 AVG, .372 OBP, .548 SLG
Postseason Stats: 6 G, 26 PA, 4 HR, 0 SB, .227 AVG, .346 OBP, .773 SLG
If the regular season was a proof of concept of what Royce Lewis can do when he's healthy, his first exposure to the playoffs was even more of a proof of concept.
It's remarkable that he was out there at all for the Twins' battles against the Blue Jays and Astros. Because of a strained hamstring, he was unable to run at full speed and there generally wasn't any certainty that he'd be good to go for the Wild Card Series.
All that went out the window when Lewis was not only in the lineup for Game 1, but quickly swatting home runs in each of his first two at-bats. Two more long balls followed in Games 1 and 4 of the Division Series.
This plus the 98.1 mph that Lewis averaged on his batted balls is the good news. The bad is that, like Julien, he also whiffed eight times. He had some rough chases and was also blown away by some high heaters.
Still, let's not bury the guy. If he's ever able to go on a sustained stretch where he's healthy, that may be the moment he really shows what he can do.
Grade: B
RHP Bobby Miller, Los Angeles Dodgers
8 of 10
Age: 24
Regular Season Stats: 22 GS, 124.1 IP, 105 H (12 HR), 119 K, 32 BB, 3.76 ERA
Postseason Stats: 1 GS, 1.2 IP, 4 H (0 HR), 1 K, 2 BB, 16.20 ERA
The grades so far have been pretty good. And why not? They're attached to talented rookies who have played well under the brightest of lights.
But now we come to Bobby Miller.
Even after his historic start fizzled, his regular season ended up being plenty good. And courtesy of a 99.0 mph average fastball, he went into the playoffs with at least one weapon that promised to bamboozle opposing hitters.
Alas, that didn't happen against the Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the Division Series. The velo was there, but he got just two swings and misses on 29 fastballs. And while he wasn't terrible at finding the zone, he had no luck getting Arizona hitters to expand it.
Said hitters obviously deserve their share of the credit for what befell Miller, but the man himself ultimately had nothing with which to beat them. The quick hook with which Dave Roberts came and got him was justified.
Grade: D
RHP Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks
9 of 10
Age: 24
Regular Season Stats: 19 G, 18 GS, 96.0 IP, 109 H (22 HR), 94 K, 26 BB, 5.72 ERA
Postseason Stats: 2 GS, 7.0 IP, 9 H (1 HR), 6 K, 1 BB, 3.86 ERA
Brandon Pfaadt's postseason debut was a rough one, as he lasted just 2.2 innings while giving up three runs against Milwaukee in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.
But how rough was it, really?
Pfaadt got swings and misses in that game at the highest rate he's gotten them all year, and not all of the seven hits off him were rope jobs. One was a little nubber. Another was a little bloop. Still another was a broken-bat line drive.
Buzzard's luck, in other words, so perhaps it's no surprise that Pfaadt fared better in Game 3 of the Division Series against the Dodgers. He allowed two hits in 4.1 scoreless innings, in which he was pounding the zone better than he had in any of his previous starts.
And now everyone knows what the Diamondbacks have known about Pfaadt for a while: That since he returned from a spell in the minors on July 22, he's actually been pretty good.
Grade: B
RHP Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles
10 of 10
Age: 23
Regular Season Stats: 23 GS, 122.0 IP, 121 H (16 HR), 129 K, 42 BB, 4.35 ERA
Postseason Stats: 1 GS, 1.2 IP, 6 H (0 HR), 2 K, 4 BB, 27.00 ERA
Even more than Pfaadt, Grayson Rodriguez really settled in after returning from the minors in July. His last 13 turns in the Orioles rotation yielded a 2.58 ERA.
He was quick to continue this success against the Rangers in Game 2 of the Division Series, as his first inning saw him strike out Mitch Garver and Adolis García before ultimately getting out of a bases-loaded jam by getting Jonah Heim to fly out.
But then the floodgates opened on Rodriguez in the second. His wildness continued to be an issue as he added two more walks to the pair he issued in the first, and even his high velocity didn't stop Rangers hitters from going 4-for-7 against his fastball.
Rodriguez also inflicted harm on himself in the field, as he was late to scoop and fire on a soft ground ball by Garver that resulted in a base hit and the third of the Rangers' five runs off him in the inning.
In all, it was a shaky start that just never stabilized for the rookie.
Grade: F
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
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