MLB Preview 2011: The Top 10 American League Rookies To Watch This Season
They are the players who have been named as potential All-Stars in the making. Some of them will go onto successful big league careers, while others could virtually disappear into no-name ballplayers over the next few seasons.
For some of these rookies, this season will be their one shot at stardom to further their big league career and truly make a name for themselves within their respective organizations.
Even if some of their paths to the show already started, this 2011 season could be the start of something special for each one of them.
We all remember what Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz and Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson did in their 2010 American League rookie campaigns. Who will stand out in the AL this season?
There could very possibly be an AL Rookie of the Year among these players, even an AL MVP or Cy Young Award winner in the near future as well.
Here are the top 10 AL rookies to watch this upcoming 2011 season. Enjoy.
10. Desmond Jennings (OF) Tampa Bay Rays
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At just 24 years old, Desmond Jennings will try to fill the big shoes left by former Rays outfielder Carl Crawford when he gets his first big taste of the major leagues in 2011.
Rated by Baseball America as the 22nd-best prospect in baseball, Jennings hit .278 with three HRs and 36 RBI while swiping 37 bases with Triple-A last season.
The former 10th round pick by the Rays in 2006, Jennings was also selected to start in the 2010 Futures Game and made his major league debut shortly after.
Sooner than later, he could very well make even the biggest of Rays fans forget about Crawford, where they could name Jennings as kind of a second coming of the former All-Star. Both outfielders possess the same kind of baseball style at the plate and in the field, where speed is also the name of the game.
Jennings has all the tools to be one of the best outfielders in all of baseball in the very near future, a road that will begin in 2011.
9. Tsuyoshi Nishioka (2B) Minnesota Twins
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Coming over from Japan this offseason, second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka signed a three-year, $9 million deal with the Minnesota Twins.
Nishioka, 26, is a former member of both the Japanese 2006 World Baseball Classic team and the 2008 Beijing Olympic team, where he led the Olympic team with a .455 batting average throughout the contests.
Last season with the Nippon Professional Baseball league, the switch hitting infielder hit .346 with 11 HRs and 59 RBI in 144 games.
It should be interesting how Nishioka translates to the major leagues as he is also a five-time NPB All-Star and 2010 batting champ. Don't be too fast to judge Japanese talent.
8. Kyle Drabek (SP) Toronto Blue Jays
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The key piece of the Roy Halladay trade to Philadelphia, Kyle Drabek is definitely a pitcher to watch this upcoming season.
Originally drafted by the Phillies in the first round of the 2006 MLB draft, Drabek went 14-9 with a 2.94 ERA in 27 starts while striking out 132 batters in 162 innings at Double-A last year. He was also named both an Eastern League midseason and postseason All-Star as well.
Skipping Triple-A to make his major league debut as a September call-up last year, the 23-year-old went 0-3 with a respectable 4.76 ERA in three starts, spanning 17 innings pitched.
Drabek could easily be the pitcher that will fill the hole in the rotation left by both Halladay and Shaun Marcum this upcoming season. Regardless, he will be a staple up to the Toronto rotation for the next decade. This season will be a big year for Drabek and the Blue Jays as they look to find their young core of pitchers who will help them contend in the AL fairly soon.
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7. Dustin Ackley (2B) Seattle Mariners
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The former second overall pick by the Mariners in the 2009 MLB draft, Dustin Ackley has shot through the Seattle organization very quickly. The former standout at North Carolina is currently rated as the 12th-best prospect in the game by Baseball America.
Ackley, 23, began the year at Double-A last season where he hit .263 with two HRs and 28 RBI in 82 games. The second baseman was then promoted to Triple-A, finishing a little better by hitting .274 with five HRs and 23 RBI in just 52 games.
He showed even more promise playing in the Arizona Fall League this offseason. hitting .424 with four HRs and 19 RBI in 20 games, earning him the 2010 AFL MVP honors.
Although he most likely won't make the big Llague club out of spring training, Ackley will find his way to Safeco Field soon, possibly as early as June.
6. J.P. Arencibia (C) Toronto Blue Jays
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If you have never heard of him before, you will in 2011.
J.P. Arencibia, the former first round pick by Toronto in 2007, absolutely lit up Triple-A with his ability to hit the long ball, hitting .301 with 32 HR's and 85 RBI in 104 games last season.
With those numbers, he was easily called up to the big leagues in early August, making an impact early on as well. Arencibia had the best major league debut any big leaguer could ask for when he made his debut back on August 7 against Tampa Bay. The catcher only went four-for-five, but hit two home runs as well en route to a victory for both him and the Blue Jays.
Hopefully he can transition some of that early big league success into his 2011 season, where he will make an impact and make a name for himself in Toronto. Arencibia could realistically become a .300 AVG., 25+ HR catcher in the majors very soon.
5. Chris Sale (RP) Chicago White Sox
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The player with surprisingly the most big league experience on the list, Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale showed all of baseball last season that players don't necessarily have to go through the minors very long to become a successful pitcher in the majors.
Sale needed just 10.1 innings in the minors before making his major league debut at just 21 years old last season, where he dominated in his first taste of the big leagues, going 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched. The former 2010 first round draft pick also added four saves to his stat line, walking 10 and striking out 35, while yielding opposing hitters to only a .185 batting average.
It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Sale among the league leaders in ERA in 2011, where he will make noise once again on the South Side of Chicago.
4. Mike Moustakas (3B) Kansas City Royals
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One of the more all-around talented ballplayers on the list, the Royals believe third baseman Mike Moustakas will become their future third baseman as early as June this season.
With former AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke now in Milwaukee, Kansas City will need a player to become the new face of the franchise for the next decade. Moustakas could very well be that guy, as he has not only shown the power to hit the ball, but also field the ball fairly well at the hot corner.
After hitting .347 with 21 HRs and 76 RBI, and also stealing 25 bases in 66 games at Double-A last year, Moustakas was promoted to Triple-A, where he hit .293 with 15 HRs and 48 RBI in 52 games.
Currently rated by Baseball America as the ninth-best prospect in baseball, the left-handed hitting Moustakas took home honors as the Texas League Player of the Year in 2010, and also managed to get the start in last year's Futures Game as well.
Being the former second overall pick by K.C. in the 2007 draft, the 22-year-old has definitely lived up to the hype so far in his successful minor league career. It won't be long till we see the Moustakas jerseys hitting store shelves soon.
3. Lonnie Chisenhall (3B) Cleveland Indians
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How long has it been since Cleveland had a stable, everyday third baseman they could rely on at the hot corner? Way too long.
Well the Indians will be getting help very soon, as former 2008 first round pick Lonnie Chisenhall will make his major league debut with the Tribe sometime this season.
At AA Akron last year, Chisenhall hit .278 with 17 HR's and 84 RBI in 117 games, where he also became a midseason Eastern League All-Star and played in the 2010 Futures Game as well.
The 22-year-old, rated by Baseball America as the 25th-best prospect in the game, has absolutely raked during his first couple weeks of spring training games, hitting .524 with two HRs and four RBI in 21 at-bats this spring.
As it stands today, Chisenhall has made it difficult for Indians manager Manny Acta on whether he should have the third baseman skip Triple-A entirely to join the big league club on Opening Day. Even if he doesn't make the Tribe's roster though, Chisenhall could very easily find his way to the majors by the end of May.
2. Jesus Montero (C) New York Yankees
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The player every Yankee fan is waiting for, Jesus Montero will soon replace longtime New York catcher Jorge Posada as the team's starting catcher sometime this upcoming season.
Currently rated by Baseball America as the third-best prospect in all of baseball, Montero at just 21 years old could make a significant impact on the Yankees this season. At Triple-A last season, he hit .289 with 21 HRs and 75 RBI in 123 games, also becoming both a midseason and postseason International League All-Star.
The Venezuelan native could realistically get a call to the big leagues as early as June, or earlier, depending on how the Yanks are progressing in the American League East.
It's hard to believe, but the Yankees have a solid group of young core players to definitely build around in Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, Brett Gardner and of course, Montero.
He will be a top-five catcher in all of baseball in the next couple years.
1. Jeremy Hellickson (SP) Tampa Bay Rays
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Rated by Baseball America as the sixth-best prospect in the game, Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson is the No. 1 rookie to watch in 2011. Drafted by Tampa Bay in the fourth round of the 2005 draft, the 23-year-old made his major league debut last August after posting a 12-4 record with a 2.45 ERA in 21 starts in Triple-A.
In his first three big league starts, Hellickson went an amazing 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings pitched, walking three and striking out 18.
He was both the International League's Most Valuable Pitcher and awarded as the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year as well last season. Hellickson also made some noise in the 2010 Futures Game for the U.S. Team, picking up the victory in the game as well.
Hellickson will add even more to the Rays' already great starting rotation, beginning on Opening Day through the entire season. Who knows, you just may be looking at the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year when it's all said and done.
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