AL Rookie of the Year Rankings: Mike Trout Continues to Pull Away from the Pack

There's still a lot of baseball left to be played this season, but the Rookie of the Year race in the American League is becoming a one-man race.

Mike Trout is the favorite to win the award by a mile.

Trout has been a godsend for a Los Angeles Angels squad that was mired in last place in the AL West when they called him up in late April. He's done it all for them since then, and they've reaped the benefits. 

Though Trout is the obvious favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year right now, the field would be pretty crowded if he wasn't in the mix. The American League is home to quite a few talented rookies in 2012.

As always, this week's AL Rookie of the Year rankings will show you just how deep the field goes.

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

Honorable Mentions

Quintin Berry, OF (Detroit Tigers)

He only has 19 major league games under his belt, but he's already third among AL rookie hitters in WAR, according to FanGraphs.

Yoenis Cespedes, OF (Oakland A's)

Health problems have derailed what was once a very strong rookie season. As it is, he's still tied for second among AL rookies with six home runs.

Ryan Cook, RP (Oakland A's)

His 0.67 ERA leads all AL rookie relievers with at least 20 innings pitched.

Felix Doubront, SP (Boston Red Sox)

His start on Friday against the Washington Nationals was his first truly bad start in more than a month. Felix has been dropped from the top five, but he'll probably be back.

Jake McGee, RP (Tampa Bay Rays)

He's very quietly having a very good season, posting a 1.77 ERA and a 10.62 K/9.

Jesus Montero, C/DH (Seattle Mariners)

Montero has played in more games than any other rookie in the American League, but he's been remarkably inconsistent at the plate. However, he leads all AL rookies with seven home runs.

Jarrod Parker, SP (Oakland A's)

Parker followed up his near-no-hitter against the Texas Rangers with a horrific performance against the Diamondbacks, a club that used to employ him.

5. Scott Diamond, SP (Minnesota Twins)

Last Week: Unranked (Honorable Mention)

Scott Diamond is a guy who's been creeping closer and closer to the top five of the ROY rankings for weeks. 

Now, here he is in the top five for the first time, and deservedly so. He has enough starts under his belt, and his numbers are simply too good to ignore.

Diamond has made seven starts this season, winning five of them. He currently has a 1.61 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.

He's not an unhittable pitcher, mind you, as opponents are currently batting .277 against him. He's able to limit the damage, however, because he doesn't walk anybody and because he's very good at getting ground balls.

Diamond's ground-ball rate, according to FanGraphs, is 61.1 percent. That puts him in Derek Lowe territory. In fact, Diamond would rank just behind Lowe in ground-ball percentage if he had enough innings to qualify.

As long as Diamond keeps the ground balls coming, he'll be fine. Goodness knows the Twins need him to keep it up. Their starting rotation is awful.

4. Will Middlebrooks, 3B (Boston Red Sox)

Last Week: No. 4

The Will Middlebrooks situation is only getting more and more frustrating every week.

He strikes out a lot and doesn't walk enough, but Middlebrooks is one of the best hitters Bobby Valentine has at his disposal. Despite that, he's not getting regular playing time due to the presence of Kevin Youkilis, and there's even less playing time for him this week because Boston is playing all its games on the road at NL parks.

The inconsistent playing time isn't doing Middlebrooks any favors. He's just two for his last 14 with no extra-base hits and no RBI (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).

Nonetheless, Middlebrooks' numbers for the season are still strong. He's hitting .300/.339/.508 with six home runs and 22 RBI in 32 games. According to FanGraphs, the only rookie hitter in the AL with a higher WAR than Middlebrooks is Mike Trout.

I'm keeping Middlebrooks at No. 4 for now. It's going to be hard to move him any higher as long as Youkilis is still around, though.

3. Yu Darvish, SP (Texas Rangers)

Last Week: No. 2

Yu Darvish's first season in the big leagues could not have gotten off to a better start. Through his first six starts, he had a record of 5-1 and a 2.54 ERA as well as 44 strikeouts in 39 innings (h/t Baseball-Reference.com).

It suffices to say Darvish's season has taken a turn for the worse. 

In his last six starts, he has a record of 3-3 with an ERA over 5.00. Walks have been a problem, as he's issued 23 free passes in 33.2 innings.

Darvish hit rock bottom his last time out against the Oakland A's, allowing six earned runs on six hits and six walks to an offense that is not known for it's run-scoring prowess.

He's still on pace to win about 18 games this season, but Darvish is clearly going through some growing pains right now. He's not throwing enough strikes, and hitters aren't being fooled by his electric stuff.

According to FanGraphs, Darvish is now tied for first among AL rookie pitchers with a 1.2 WAR. He used to have a big lead in that category, but not anymore.

The guy he's tied with just so happens to be next on this list.

2. Wei-Yin Chen, SP (Baltimore Orioles)

Last Week: Unranked (Honorable Mention)

I removed Wei-Yin Chen from my top five last week because two of his last three starts were wildly mediocre.

He responded by allowing one earned run in seven innings in a win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, out-dueling Josh Beckett in the process. It was a real head-turner.

Chen followed that up with a decent performance against the weak-hitting Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing four earned runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. He got the win, though, pushing his overall record to 6-2. He also has a respectable 3.68 ERA.

So, in a span of a week, Chen went from being on the periphery of the top five to being No. 2 overall. That's partially due to the struggles of others, but he definitely had a hand in his own rise. Darvish has gotten all the attention among AL rookie hurlers, but Chen has been the most consistent rookie pitcher in the league.

He is, however, a distant second to the man in the top spot of this countdown.

1. Mike Trout, OF (Los Angeles Angels)

Last Week: No. 1

There's no need to justify Mike Trout's ranking at No. 1, so I'll keep this as brief as possible.

In 41 games, he's hitting .345/.406/.552 with six home runs, 26 RBI, 35 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. Per FanGraphs, Trout has a 6.5 UZR and six defensive runs saved in the outfield, numbers that could lead to a Gold Glove at the end of the year.

Most importantly, the Angels are 27-16 since calling him up.

And they wouldn't be so hot without Trout.

His WAR is 3.1, far and away the best among AL rookies. If he qualified, his 3.1 WAR would be third among all AL players.

Yeah, he's awesome.

Last Week's Rankings

5. Jarrod Parker, SP (Oakland A's)

His stinker against Arizona made it too easy to remove him from the top five.

4. Will Middlebrooks, 3B (Boston Red Sox)

He's in a holding pattern.

3. Felix Doubront, SP (Boston Red Sox)

If Doubront picks up where he left off before his start against Washington, he'll climb back into the top five in no time.

2. Yu Darvish, SP (Boston Red Sox)

Darvish has a lot to figure out.

1. Mike Trout, OF (Los Angeles Angels)

I say again: awesome.

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