AL Rookie of the Year Rankings: Jarrod Parker Sneaking Up Towards No. 1

Jun 7, 2018

The best pitcher in the American League that nobody is talking about is Oakland A's rookie right-hander Jarrod Parker.

Parker's numbers look impressive enough at first glance. His ERA is well below 3.00, opponents are hitting just .209 against him and so on. What a lot of people have yet to notice, however, is that Parker has been absolutely dominant since late May. He's allowed a grand total of 10 earned runs over his last eight starts, and six of those came in one game.

The A's got Parker in the trade that sent Trevor Cahill to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Oakland is looking like the clear winner of that trade right about now. In Parker, it has itself a legitimate American League Rookie of the Year candidate.

All he has to do is find a way to catch up to Mike Trout, which is not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Parker is trending in the right direction, though. Scroll ahead for a look at where he stands in this week's AL Rookie of the Year rankings.

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

Honorable Mentions

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Quintin Berry, OF, Detroit Tigers

Berry was in my top five a couple weeks ago when his batting average was up around .340, but he's since fallen into a bit of a slump. All told, he's 11 for his last 49.

The bright side is that he's currently second among all qualified AL rookie position players in WAR, according to FanGraphs.

Yoenis Cespedes, OF, Oakland A's

Cespedes closed out the month of June in style, hitting .326 with three home runs in 13 games. In July, however, he has one hit in 12 at-bats. So it goes with him.

He's been on the cusp of making it into my top five for a couple weeks, but he needs to be consistent.

Ryan Cook, RP, Oakland A's

Cook is another guy the A's got in the Trevor Cahill trade. Even they probably didn't expect him to make the All-Star team this year.

Cook has had two outings in which he was downright awful. In his other 33 appearances this season, he hasn't allowed a single earned run.

Jake McGee, RP, Tampa Bay Rays

McGee is one of five qualified rookie relievers with a K/9 over 10.00, and he also boasts an ERA of 1.65. He has nine holds on the season, which is cool if you're into that kind of thing (I am).

Jesus Montero, C/DH, Seattle Mariners

Montero is on this list simply because he's played in more games than any other rookie in the American League. The only trouble is, he's shown that his approach at the plate needs a lot of work, and he currently bears a negative WAR.

Addison Reed, RP, Chicago White Sox

Reed leads all rookie relievers with 11 saves. He can be unpredictable, but there's a lot to like about his stuff and where his career is headed.

Robbie Ross, RP, Texas Rangers

Ross has a 6-0 record and a 1.06 ERA pitching out of the Rangers bullpen. He's logged more innings than any other rookie reliever. It's fair to consider him the most unsung hero on the Rangers.

Tom Wilhelmsen, RP, Seattle Mariners

Wilhelmsen has thrived as Seattle's closer, saving seven games in seven opportunities since early June. His K/9 is up around 11.00, and his ERA is solid at 2.51.

He's a candidate to crack the top five if he keeps up the good work.

5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B, Boston Red Sox

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Last Week: No. 3

The Red Sox had seen enough from Will Middlebrooks to be convinced that they no longer needed Kevin Youkilis. He was shipped off to Chicago back on June 24, opening up a chance for Middlebrooks to start at the hot corner for the rest of the season.

Middlebrooks has gone 4-for-27 since that trade, and he recently came down with a hamstring injury. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe has reported that Middlebrooks could be ticketed for the disabled list.

If you're just now joining us, meet the 2012 Boston Red Sox. If it wasn't for bad luck, they wouldn't have any luck at all.

Despite his recent issues, Middlebrooks still boasts solid numbers. He's hitting .298/.335/.538 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI in 48 games. He leads all AL rookies in RBI, and the only other rookie with as many as 10 home runs is Mike Trout (of course).

According to FanGraphs, Middlebrooks ranks third among AL rookie position players with a WAR of 1.0.

It sounds like it could be a while before Middlebrooks gets a chance to add to his numbers, however. He's already trending in the wrong direction, and I won't be at all surprised if I have to take him out of the top five next week.

4. Wei-Yin Chen, SP, Baltimore Orioles

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Last Week: No. 4

I've been a fan of Wei-Yin Chen all along, but I wrote last week that I wanted to see him put together a truly dominant start. You know, something with a game score of 75 or above.

He must have been listening.

On Tuesday night in Seattle, Chen took a perfect game into the seventh inning and he ended up pitching 7.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits. He struck out nine.

For his efforts, he earned a game score of exactly 75.

Chen didn't get a win, so his record is stuck at 7-4. His ERA, however, is down to 3.64, and his WHIP is down to 1.24. He's now logged eight quality starts on the season, which ties him with Jason Hammel for the most on the Orioles.

Per FanGraphs, Chen's WAR of 1.4 ranks third among qualified AL rookie starters.

Choosing to keep him suspended in animation at No. 4 this week wasn't an easy call to make after his near-perfecto, but rest assured that the next guy on this list very much deserves to be No. 3.

And, to be fair, Chen's near-perfecto did come against the Mariners. They rank 29th in MLB in batting average and dead-last in team OBP. They've already had one perfect game spun against them, and several other pitchers have flirted with no-nos against them. They're a magnet for performances like Chen's gem on Tuesday night.

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3. Jarrod Parker, SP, Oakland A's

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Last Week: No. 5

Through his first five starts, Jarrod Parker was 1-2 with a 3.90 ERA. The last of those was a start against the San Francisco Giants in which he was lit up for six earned runs in two innings.

At that point, Parker didn't look like anything special.

Since that point, however, man...

In his last eight starts, Parker has a record of 4-1 and a 1.71 ERA. He's pitched 52.2 innings, giving up 34 hits and striking out 44.

Parker's best pitch is his changeup. It's a pitch that he throws roughly 21 percent of the time, and FanGraphs PITCHf/x reveals it to be one of the most effective changeups in baseball.

In fact, the numbers show that Parker's changeup has been more effective than the changeups thrown by Cole Hamels and Johan Santana, which is saying something.

Parker gets the nod over Chen for the No. 3 spot on this list for a couple reasons. For one, his WAR is slightly higher at 1.5, and the FIP numbers of the two pitchers suggest that Parker has been the better pitcher this season. Parker's FIP is 3.57. Chen's is 4.14.

Yes, Chen's near-perfecto against the Mariners counts for something. But let's not forget that Parker nearly no-hit the Texas Rangers, which is far more impressive.

2. Yu Darvish, SP, Texas Rangers

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Last Week: No. 2

As good as Chen and Parker have been this season, they still have work to do to catch up with Yu Darvish.

Not that wins really mean anything, but Darvish leads all AL rookies with 10 wins on the season. What's more important is that Darvish leads all AL rookie starters significantly with a K/9 of 10.26.

Darvish's lead is less significant in the innings-pitched category, but his 102.2 innings pitched lead all AL rookies. He's helped himself by logging at least seven innings in each of his last four starts, in which he's struck out a grand total of 40 hitters.

Per FanGraphs, Darvish's 2.2 WAR is tops among AL rookie hurlers.

It's looking like Darvish may be headed for Kansas City next week, as MLB.com reported earlier on Wednesday that he has a lead in the "Final Vote" over Jake Peavy. This isn't at all surprising, seeing as how Darvish has an entire nation at his back.

Regardless of whether or not he ends up in Kansas City for the 2012 All-Star Game, it's worth noting that Darvish will head into the second half with a lot to prove. The Elias Sports Bureau pointed out the other day (via ESPN.com) that Darvish has an ERA over 5.00 when he faces teams a second time, as opposed to a 2.51 ERA when he faces them the first time.

There aren't many AL teams out there that have yet to face Darvish, so he better be ready to make some adjustments.

1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels

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Last Week: No. 1

In case you're wondering, the answer is no. None of the other AL Rookie of the Year candidates are even close to Mike Trout.

Trout is leading the American League in hitting at .340, and he also leads the league in stolen bases with 22. His .552 slugging percentage ranks sixth, and his OPS ranks seventh.

ESPN.com is projecting Trout to hit 20 home runs, score 100 runs and steal 40 bases in under 120 games. That would be mind-blowing, but nobody should doubt Trout's ability to achieve those numbers. If he doesn't, it certainly won't be for lack of talent.

In addition, don't be surprised if he wins a Gold Glove. We've all seen the absurd catch he made in Baltimore last week, and the advanced metrics confirm that he's just as good a fielder as our eyes have led us to believe. Per FanGraphs, Trout has an 8.4 Ultimate Zone Rating and a DRS of plus-8.4

His WAR for the season is 4.4. That's not just tops among AL rookies. That's top among all American League players.

Yeah, he's good.