MLB Rookie of the Year 2014: Breaking Down American and National League Races
The attention of the baseball world is set on the MLB playoffs, but there are awards to hand out and hardware to collect.
One of the most prominent honors assigned every season is the Rookie of the Year Award. There may be more compelling races, especially this season, but this award is a solid indicator of who we could see as the future stars in the league.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the American and National League races for the billing of the top rookie.
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American League
Sometimes statistics really do tell the whole story.
The race for the American League Rookie of the Year isn’t really much of a race anymore thanks to the dominating season that Jose Abreu turned in for the Chicago White Sox. In fact, had the White Sox made the playoffs, we would be talking about Abreu as an MVP candidate instead of just the runaway rookie of the year.
Per his Baseball Reference page, Abreu hit .317, drilled 36 home runs (fourth in the MLB), tallied 107 RBI (fifth in the MLB) and finished with a .964 on-base plus slugging (second in the MLB). He was also sixth in all of baseball with 6.5 offensive wins above replacement (oWAR), led the MLB in slugging percentage (.581), was second in the MLB behind only Mike Trout with 323 total bases and was fourth in the MLB with 73 extra-base hits.
Abreu also avoided a prolonged slump when opposing pitchers started to make adjustments. He commented on just that during the season, via Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com.
“I really don’t know the adjustments that they made on me, I just know that I concentrate on myself," Abreu said. "I concentrate on my strength when I go there. I’m sure they’re making adjustments and things like that but I try to stay with what I do well.”
The fact that Abreu didn’t even really notice the adjustments is almost as amazing as the raw numbers themselves.
Sure, guys like Dellin Betances of the New York Yankees and Collin McHugh of the Houston Astros merit an honorable mention, but this is as straightforward as MLB award races come.
National League
At least there are two realistic options in the National League Rookie of the Year race as compared to the one in the American League.
The case can be made for center fielder Billy Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds and pitcher Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets. We are giving the nod to deGrom here.
DeGrom didn’t even reach the majors until May, but his 22 starts and 140.1 innings pitched were still tops among National League rookies. He also turned in a 2.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 144 strikeouts in those 140.1 innings and a .228 batting average against.
Perhaps most impressively was the fact that he tied a major league record with eight consecutive strikeouts to start a single game. Only four National League starters who threw at least 60 innings after the All-Star break had a lower ERA than deGrom as well.
Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com and Buster Olney of ESPN are both among those who think deGrom is the Rookie of the Year over Hamilton or anyone else:
Hamilton has the advantage of playing the entire season and being the more recognizable name because of his electric speed, but his .250 batting average and .292 on-base percentage leave a lot to be desired for someone with the speed to be a terrific leadoff hitter.
Hamilton did finish with an incredible 56 steals, but he was also caught a league-leading 23 times. He hit a measly .123 in September and only recorded two steals in the final month, which was not exactly a memorable finish for voters.
It will be close, but the Mets hurler will take home the award.
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