AL Rookie of the Year Rankings: A's Slugger Yoenis Cespedes Reenters Top 5

The American League Rookie of the Year race may as well be over already. Nobody is catching Mike Trout. 

The rest of the candidates can only hope to become the answer to a tough trivia question a few years down the road: Who finished second behind Trout in the AL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2012?

The race for the runner-up spot is wide open, and the man who has occupied the No. 2 spot in my weekly rankings for the last few weeks has finally taken a tumble down the list this week. The right to be called the second-best rookie in the American League is up for grabs at the moment.

In recent days, Oakland A's slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has emerged as a legit challenger. He's been on a tear since the All-Star break, and he's effectively put the A's on his back. Cespedes has been out of my top five since the middle of May, but he's back.

Scroll ahead for a full breakdown of this week's AL ROY rankings.

Note: All stats come from Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Honorable Mentions

Quintin Berry, OF (Detroit Tigers)

Berry has collected two three-hit games thus far in the second half, but he's gone hitless in the other three games the Tigers have played. His average got as high as .337 in the middle of June, but it's now down to .292.

Wei-Yin Chen, SP (Baltimore Orioles)

Chen pitched well in his first post-break start, limiting the Tigers to one run over six innings on just two hits and two walks. I need to see if Chen can do this again before I move him back into the top five.

He's been known to follow strong starts with a couple mediocre starts.

Scott Diamond, SP (Minnesota Twins)

Diamond just barely cracked my top five at the All-Star break, but he came out and allowed five earned runs on nine hits in six innings against the Oakland A's. It had been 11 days since his last start, and I think the extra rest straightened out his sinker.

We'll see how he responds on regular rest in his next start.

Jarrod Parker, SP (Oakland A's)

Parker also struggled in his first post-break start, allowing four earned runs on nine hits in six innings against the Twins. He picked up a win, but he was hardly sharp. That makes it two bad starts in a row for him, which makes it hard to justify keeping him in my top five.

Addison Reed, RP (Chicago White Sox)

Reed leads all AL rookies with 15 saves, which is cool. He's just lacking in other areas.

Robbie Ross, RP (Texas Rangers)

Ross has only thrown three pitches so far in the second half, and disaster did not ensue at any point during those three pitches. He has a 0.95 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP in 35 appearances.

Put in the teeth, indeed.

Tom Wilhelmsen, RP (Seattle Mariners)

Wilhelmsen still hasn't allowed an earned run since May 23, and he's saved eight games in nine opportunities since the start of June. He ranks third among AL rookie relievers with a K/9 of 10.49.

5. Ryan Cook, RP (Oakland A's)

Last Week: No. 4

Cook has only made one appearance so far in the second half, picking up his ninth save of the season against the Twins with a perfect inning in which he struck out two.

In other words, a typical Cook outing.

He's made 39 appearances this season, and he's only allowed runs in two of those appearances. The other 37 have been spotless. That's a big reason why Cook boasts a sparkling 1.37 ERA. It helps that he has a 9.38 K/9 and a BABIP of .148. Hitters are batting just .102 off of him.

Yeah, you read that right—they're hitting one-freaking-hundred-and-two against Cook. Granted, conventional wisdom tells us that Cook's low BABIP is a little too low. In fact, it's low by about 100 points. No pitcher can maintain a BABIP that low.

Nevertheless, Cook is doing it. He's definitely benefited from good luck this season, but you can only chalk so much of his success up to luck. Most of it has to do with good pitching.

There's been some bad noise in the comments section in recent weeks about how both Robbie Ross and Addison Reed are having better seasons than Cook. I can't get behind this notion because Cook has been spotless 95 percent of the time he's taken the mound, and all of his appearances have come in the seventh inning or later. He's been a money pitcher in money situations for the A's all season long.

4. Yu Darvish, SP (Texas Rangers)

Last Week: No. 2

We have found Yu Darvish's Kryptonite, and it is the Seattle Mariners.

Darvish got roughed up by the Mariners in his first post-break start, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits and four walks in 6.1 innings of work. He picked up his sixth loss and saw his ERA jump from 3.59 to 3.96.

Darvish has now made three starts against the Mariners. In those starts, he's given up 16 earned runs in 16 innings, an ERA of 9.00. In 14 starts against everyone else, Darvish has given up 32 earned runs in 93 innings. That's an ERA of 3.10.

What's odd is that the Mariners rank 29th in the majors in team batting average, 30th in team OBP and 28th in team slugging percentage. So...I've got nothing. Honestly.

Darvish is still having a strong season, mind you. He's the only rookie starter with 10 wins, and he boasts a 9.99 K/9 that ranks first among AL rookie starters and second among all qualified American League starters.

But after his most recent stumble against the Mariners, there's just no justifying keeping him in the No. 2 spot. He needs to be better than that.

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

Last Week: Unranked (honorable mention)

Will Middlebrooks collected four hits in his final 27 at-bats before the All-Star break, and his first half of course ended a little early thanks to a hamstring injury that sidelined him for seven games.

Middlebrooks has shown no ill effects thus far in the second half; he's collected five hits in five games, hitting one home run and driving in five runs.

The strikeout problem is still there, as Middlebrooks has struck out six times in 20 at-bats since the break. He's striking out 24.4 percent of the time he comes to the plate, which puts him in Giancarlo Stanton and Curtis Granderson territory.

This is not to say that Middlebrooks isn't having a good season offensively. He's hitting .293/.327/.529 with an .856 OPS that ranks second among AL rookies behind you-know-who. According to FanGraphs, Middlebrooks also ranks second behind you-know-who among AL rookies in WAR. 

And in case you're curious, he does indeed have a higher WAR than Kevin Youkilis. The Red Sox did not make a mistake when they traded Youk to clear the way for Middlebrooks.

It just seems like they did right about now.

2. Yoenis Cespedes, OF (Oakland A's)

Last Week: Unranked (honorable mention)

Yoenis Cespedes has come out on fire in the second half. In four games, he's collected 10 hits in 18 at-bats—including two doubles and two home runs—and driven in six.

Cespedes has compiled these numbers hitting out of the DH spot. Methinks he understands the point of the position. One could see Cespedes' recent explosion coming from a mile away. He's been hot ever since the start of June, as he's hit .327/.368/.582 with six home runs and 21 RBI over his last 30 games.

With 11 home runs and 42 RBI on the season, Cespedes is now tied with Middlebrooks for second in both categories among AL rookies. The only guy who has them beat is...well, take a wild guess.

Cespedes ranks ahead of Middlebrooks on this list because Cespedes has the edge over Middlebrooks in weighted on-base average (per FanGraphs). It's a stat that measures a hitter's complete offensive value, so the translation there is that Cespedes is having a slightly better season at the plate than Middlebrooks.

But it's awfully close. Cespedes and Middlebrooks are probably going to be jockeying for the No. 2 position for the rest of the season.

1. Mike Trout, OF (Los Angeles Angels)

Last Week: No. 1

We keep waiting for Mike Trout to come back down to earth. Instead, he keeps getting better. Trout is hitting an even .500 in five games since the All-Star break with four doubles, a home run and four stolen bases.

For the season, he's now hitting .355/.408/.582 with 13 home runs, 44 RBI, 64 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. ESPN.com is projecting him to finish with 23 home runs, 78 RBI, 114 runs scored and 53 stolen bases.

Those would be absurd numbers, but the strange part is that one can't help but feel that Trout is going to do better than that when all is said and done.

Saying Trout is the best rookie in the American League barely qualifies as praise. One is compelled to speak higher of him than that.

So I'll just say what I said about Trout in this week's AL MVP rankings: He's the best player in baseball right now.

Any objections?

Last Week's Rankings

5. Scott Diamond, SP (Minnesota Twins)

He's out now, but he could move back in once his sinker starts working again.

4. Ryan Cook, RP (Oakland A's)

He's down a spot this week, but through no fault of his own.

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

He's out this week, and he has work to do to get back in a rhythm.

2. Yu Darvish, SP (Texas Rangers)

He's down a couple spots this week because of those blasted Mariners.

1. Mike Trout, OF (Los Angeles Angels)

He's here to stay.

Feel free to check out last week's rankings.

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