AL Rookie of the Year Rankings: Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks Reenters Top 5

It became clear about a month ago that the Boston Red Sox had to find a way to get Will Middlebrooks in their lineup every day at third base. It was just a lot easier said than done with Kevin Youkilis still around.

That problem was solved this weekend when the Red Sox traded Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox. With him out of the picture, nothing is standing in Middlebrooks' way to becoming a star.

In addition, Middlebrooks is now free to give Los Angeles Angels rookie Mike Trout a run for his money in the American League Rookie of the Year race. Trout is without a doubt the man to beat, but Middlebrooks is going to make things interesting now that he's free to play every day.

For the last couple weeks, I've been holding Middlebrooks out of the top five in my weekly AL Rookie of the Year rankings precisely because he wasn't playing every day. I considered his ROY candidacy to be in a holding pattern.

He's back in the top five this week, and high in the running to boot.

Here are this week's rankings.

Note: All stats are as of the start of Wednesday, and they come courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Honorable Mentions

Quintin Berry, OF, Detroit Tigers

Berry was in my top five last week at No. 5, a spot he earned largely thanks to a recent 5-for-5 outing and his first walk-off hit in the majors. But alas, he's cooled down to the tune of a .190 batting average over his last seven games.

Yoenis Cespedes, OF, Oakland A's

Cespedes has definitely figured out the Seattle Mariners, as four of his eight home runs have come in games against Seattle. He's right on the edge of the top five. A hot streak will get him in.

Felix Doubront, SP, Boston Red Sox

Doubront has struggled in his last two starts, the most recent of which was his outing on Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays in which he gave up a career-high 11 hits. His Rookie of the Year candidacy is trending in the wrong direction.

Jake McGee, RP, Tampa Bay Rays

McGee continues to be one of the American League's most steady relievers this season. He has a 1.85 ERA and an impressive K/9 of 9.99.

Jesus Montero, C/DH, Seattle Mariners

Montero has played in more games than any rookie in the American League, and he's played pretty well for the most part. He just needs to learn how to take his walks, as his 5.1 BB% (per FanGraphs) hurts the eyes.

Jose Quintana, SP, Chicago White Sox

Quintana has pitched eight scoreless innings in back-to-back starts, lowering his ERA to 1.25 and his WHIP to 0.97. He's shown impressive control, and he's given the White Sox quality innings that they desperately needed. His body of work is too small to warrant a place in the top five, but he's a guy to keep an eye on.

Robbie Ross, RP, Texas Rangers

Ross is 6-0 with a 1.13 ERA pitching out of the Rangers bullpen. He might be the best reliever in a bullpen that is going to be absolutely stacked with quality arms once everyone gets healthy.

Brayan Villareal, RP, Detroit Tigers

Villareal's 12.96 K/9 is the highest among all qualified American League rookies, according to FanGraphs. His 1.44 ERA is also pretty sexy.

Tom Wilhelmsen, RP, Seattle Mariners

Wilhelmson has a K/9 up over 11.00 and a solid 2.77 ERA, and he's picked up six saves for the Mariners. He has the look of a quality reliever.

5. Jarrod Parker, SP, Oakland A's

Last Week: Unranked (honorable mention)

Jarrod Parker had a start on June 9 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, his former employer, in which he gave up six earned runs on eight hits and five walks in five innings. It was an ugly outing.

Take that start out of the equation, and Parker has been one of the American League's best pitchers since late May. He has a 1.85 ERA in his last six starts, and that's including his stinker against the Diamondbacks earlier this month. In each of the other five starts, he's given up one earned run or fewer.

Parker has made a total of 11 starts this season, and he boasts solid numbers across the board. His ERA is sitting pretty at 2.70, he has a respectable 1.23 WHIP and opponents are hitting just .214 off him.

The one number that stands out as being decidedly ugly is Parker's walk rate. Per FanGraphs, he's walking 4.32 hitters every nine innings, a figure that qualifies as being below average.

The good news, however, is that Parker has walked just three batters over 13 innings in his last two starts. He's thrown 63 percent of his pitches for strikes after throwing 58 percent of his pitches for strikes over his first nine starts.

So things are looking up for Parker. At the rate he's going, he could end up being the AL's best rookie pitcher this season when all is said and done.

4. Wei-Yin Chen, SP, Baltimore Orioles

Last Week: No. 3

Wei-Yin Chen has been as consistent this season as any rookie starter in recent memory. He's only given up more than three earned runs on three occasions in 14 starts, and he's pitched at least five innings in all but one of his starts.

The only complaint that can be made about Chen is that he's a boring pitcher. He doesn't pile up strikeouts, he has a tendency to put himself in a few too many jams and we're still waiting for him to deliver a truly dominant start (i.e. one with a game score of 75 or above).

Still, the Orioles will gladly take what they've gotten so far from Chen, who is 7-3 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He's given them quality innings more often than not.

Among qualified AL rookie pitchers, the only hurler with a higher WAR than Chen is Yu Darvish, according to FanGraphs.

In fact, Chen's 1.3 WAR puts him right on par with established veterans like James Shields and Hiroki Kuroda.

Not bad for a guy who's barely making over $3 million this season.

3. Will Middlebrooks, 3B, Boston Red Sox

Last Week: Unranked (honorable mention)

Among AL third basemen with at least 160 plate appearances this season, the only one with an OPS over .900 is Will Middlebrooks. 

Not Adrian Beltre. Not Miguel Cabrera. Not Mike Moustakas. Will Middlebrooks.

Yeah, he's been that good since the Red Sox called him up in early May. He entered Wednesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays hitting .318/.354/.570 with a .923 OPS. He leads all AL rookies with nine home runs.

What's great about Middlebrooks is that he's at his best when men are on base. He's hitting .384 with six home runs with men on, including .413 with four home runs with runners in scoring position. 

So not surprisingly, Middlebrooks also leads all AL rookies with 35 RBI. The only other guy with more than 30 is Yoenis Cespedes.

It's going to be pretty hard for any AL rookie to catch Mike Trout in the Rookie of the Year race, but Middlebrooks has a shot now that he's going to be playing every day for the rest of the season. 

Not much of a shot, mind you, but he does have a shot.

2. Yu Darvish, SP, Texas Rangers

Last Week: No. 2

Yu Darvish got off to a rocky start in his outing against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, but he managed to pitch seven innings while allowing four earned runs on four hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts.

That makes it three straight starts for Darvish in which he's pitched at least seven innings and struck out at least eight batters. He's walked only six men in his last three outings, a significant improvement for him.

He's now up to 10 wins on the season, which ties him for first in the American League. His ERA is a solid 3.57, and he has 106 strikeouts in 95.2 innings pitched.

That's good for a K/9 of 9.97. Only Max Scherzer has him beat in that category among American League hurlers.

So after going through a pretty rough stretch that lasted almost a month, it looks like Darvish is coming back around. He's on pace to win about 20 games, and he has a legit argument to be on the American League All-Star squad.

The Rangers paid a lot of money to get him this offseason. So far, he's been worth it.

1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

Last Week: No. 1

This is a top five list, but we may as well start with Nos. 100-97 and then skip all the way to No. 1.

That's how far ahead Mike Trout is of the rest of the pack.

Trout continues to do it all for the Angels. He's hitting .335/.395/.528 with a .923 OPS. He's hit seven home runs and stolen an AL-best 21 bases. 

Amazingly, Trout is only getting better and better as the season rolls along. He hit .324/.385/.556 in May, and so far, he's hitting .376/.433/.538 in June. 

He isn't just the best rookie in the American League right now. He's the best player in the American League right now. Period.

The Rookie of the Year award is a foregone conclusion at this point. The more intriguing question is whether Trout will win the AL MVP award too.

Nobody should rule that out.

Last Week's Rankings

5. Quintin Berry, OF, Detroit Tigers

Berry has gone into a mini-slump. If he pulls out of it, he could reenter the top five next week.

4. Felix Doubront, SP, Boston Red Sox

He hasn't been sharp in his last two outings, and at least one Boston writer (Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald) is starting to wonder if Doubront may be wearing down.

3. Wei-Yin Chen, SP, Baltimore Orioles

Chen is down a spot this week, but through no fault of his own. I just had to make space for Middlebrooks.

2. Yu Darvish, SP, Texas Rangers

Steady as she goes.

1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

Good luck catching him (get it?).

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