The 2006 Major League Baseball season certainly has been a special one when it comes to the number of rookies making an impact. These players come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s interesting how the National League rookies are highlighted by talented young hitters while the junior circuit is flooded with talented young pitchers. I’m going to share the exploits of eight rookies from each league, many who have participated in Perfect Game events while in high school.
Keep in mind the cut-off for rookie pitchers is 50 innings, while the cut-off for rookie hitters is 130 at-bats.
NL Hitters
The Marlins are loaded with young talent, and while they have a few pitchers that would qualify as well, the hitters in the National League make for the most interesting story.
Prince Fielder
Fielder has made such a strong impact during his rookie campaign that the Brewers felt more comfortable trading Carlos Lee and making Prince the heart and soul of their lineup. Prince is the son of former big-league slugger Cecil Fielder, and like his dad, Prince offers incredible power, although the younger Fielder swings from the left side of the plate. Physically built like no other player currently in the big leagues, Fielder is currently batting .283 with 22 bombs, which leads all rookies, and is poised to be in the middle of the Brewers lineup for years to come.
Josh Barfield
Barfield, like Fielder, is the son of a former big league slugger. In this case it’s former AL home run champ Jesse Barfield. Josh doesn’t quite have his father’s prodigious power potential, but he profiles to be a better overall hitter and player. Just 23 years old, he is currently hitting .275 with 24 doubles,10 home runs and 16 stolen bases for the Wild Card contending San Diego Padres.
Conor Jackson
Jackson is the first of several young Diamondbacks hitters moving their way up to the big leagues that could make the D-Backs lineup one of the most fearsome in all of baseball. Rightfielder Carlos Quentin and shortstop Stephen Drew are also making early, favorable impressions, and centerfielder Chris Young just got the call up to the big leagues. Jackson was named the opening day starter at first base, and has responded quite well by hitting .278 with 11 home runs and 19 doubles. Drew might be in this conversation at the end of the year when he accumulates more ABs, and expect to hear more about Quentin as well, who figures to receive more playing time now that Shawn Green has been traded to the Mets.
Mike Jacobs
The first of four Marlins rookies to be listed here, Jacobs was acquired from the Mets last offseason as part of the deal that sent Carlos Delgado to New York. While Delgado is unquestionably the better and more proven slugger, Jacobs has held his own and has filled in admirably at first base. He is currently hitting .268 while slugging .461 with 32 doubles and 16 home runs.
Hanley Ramirez
Ramirez came to South Florida from Boston as part of the trade for Josh Beckett. He is an exciting five-tool shortstop that offers a little bit of everything. Ramirez has some rust to shake off defensively, but that is expected to happen with more seasoning. Offensively there’s not much not to like, with a .275 batting average, 28 doubles, seven triples and 12 home runs to go along with 40 stolen bases. Ramirez not only figures to hold down shortstop for the Marlins for quite some time, but he also has replaced both Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo quite well at the top of the order.
Dan Uggla
The Marlins snatched up Uggla in the Rule 5 draft from the Arizona Diamondbacks last winter, and he has responded with an All-Star season. He has paired with Ramirez to form one of the more exciting young middle infields in all of baseball, and with Miguel Cabrera at third base and Jacobs at first base, forms one of the more exciting young infields in the game. While Uggla has slowed from his pre-All-Star pace, he is still hitting .288 with 48 extra-base hits.
Josh Willingham
A little older for a rookie at 27 years old, Willingham finally received his chance to prove his worth at the big-league level. While his defensive skills behind the plate caused him to be moved to left field, his bat has justified that move. Willingham is currently hitting .267 with 18 dingers and 59 RBIs, giving the Marlins a fourth legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate. Not mentioned among the Marlins rookies is Jeremy Hermida, who was supposed to have the biggest impact of them all.
Ryan Zimmerman
Zimmerman was the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft, and made it to the big leagues by the end of last season. He already has established himself as the heart and soul of the Nationals offense and defense, much like David Wright has done at the hot corner for the Mets. Zimmerman has already shown a knack for the big hit, as his 38 doubles and 84 RBIs lead all rookies. Toss in a .279 batting average, 17 home runs and a refined eye at the plate and you have a name to watch for the next 10-15 years.
AL Hurlers
Like the NL, the American League has a few hitters making an impact this season as well, but the number of young pitchers having exceptional inaugural seasons is truly amazing.
Bobby Jenks
How does Bobby Jenks make this list after being one of the most integral cogs for the Chicago White Sox World Series title last year? He didn’t accumulate 50 innings, and is still considered a rookie. Armed with a rocket for an arm and a fiery demeanor that makes him a perfect closer while also mirroring the fiery disposition of his manager, Ozzie Guillen, Jenks continues to enjoy success closing out games for the Pale Hose. He is currently leading the American League in saves with 36.
Jon Lester
The Red Sox have tried quite a few pitchers in an attempt to stabilize their starting rotation. Young lefty Jon Lester has done the best job achieving that, despite slumping somewhat in the last few weeks. Over 15 starts he has posted a very admirable 4.76 ERA while striking out 60 batters in just over 80 innings of work as a 22-year old. In any other year you may hear more about Lester, but this year’s group of AL rookie pitchers will make it nearly impossible for him to sniff the ROY award.
Francisco Liriano
While Liriano is currently on the disabled list, he quickly showed why many considered him to be the top pitching prospect in all of baseball entering the 2006 season. While he started his big league career slowly out of the bullpen, it didn’t take long for him to prove his worth and earn a spot in the starting rotation. No team has a pair of lefties like the Twins do in Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano, and that pair should continue to dominate opposing hitters for quite some time which will continue to make the Twins one of the better teams in all of baseball. Before going on the DL Liriano was 12-3 with a 2.19 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 119 innings of work.
Jonathan Papelbon
The Red Sox bullpen issues have been well documented leading up to this year. Now with Papelbon closing out games, you don’t hear a peep about those previous woes. The Red Sox are always active acquiring big names via trade and free agency, but made it quite clear the last few years that they would not part with Papelbon. That has proven to be a very astute long-range decision, as Papelbon’s dominance in his first full year as the team’s closer allows the Red Sox to look elsewhere when trying to improve their team. Do you want proof of that dominance? Try a 0.98 ERA, as he has allowed only 35 hits and 13 walks over 64 innings pitched. Papelbon’s 33 saves are fourth best in the league.
Jeremy Sowers
All of the pitchers listed here light up radar guns consistently, that is, with the exception of Sowers, who carves up batters by changing speeds and hitting his spots. Any young lefty that doesn’t throw particularly hard yet enjoys tremendous success with this style is often compared to Tom Glavine, and Sowers might just have the moxie to truly become the next Glavine. Sowers has enjoyed success at every level, silencing doubts about the lack of true stuff with every new challenge. So far for the Indians he has gone 5-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 10 games.
Justin Verlander
The second overall pick in the 2004 draft, it didn’t take Verlander long to make his mark in the big-leagues, an impressive feat considering he didn’t even appear in his first professional game until the 2005 season. Verlander is all about power with a lethal fastball-curveball combo that is nearly impossible to hit when both pitches are working for him. He has improved his previously questionable command so much over the last year that was pretty much the only glaring problem he had coming out of college. His 15 wins are tied for second best in the league and his 3.05 ERA is also second best.
Jered Weaver
To make room for Jered Weaver, the Angels decided to designate his older brother Jeff for assignment before trading him to the St. Louis Cardinals. While Jeff’s career has been wildly inconsistent, Jered’s career so far has been nothing short of dominant. Arguably the best player available in the 2004 draft, Weaver fell to the Angels and the 12th overall pick due to signability concerns. Giving Weaver big money has paid off big for the Angels, as Jered has gone undefeated through his 12 games (9-0) and is giving the other rookie pitchers in the American League a run for the Rookie of the Year Award.
Joel Zumaya
While Verlander has given the Tigers rotation another power arm that has helped propel the surging Tigers to their amazing season, Zumaya has stabilized the bullpen, giving manager Jim Leyland an arm few teams want to face in the late innings of a ballgame. Fiery and intense, Zumaya is tailor-made for the bullpen, and his triple digit fastballs make it nearly impossible for teams to put together late inning rallies. I have commented earlier on the Tigers success based on their youth, as the they are enjoying success from quite a few young players. It should be noted that teammate Curtis Granderson technically isn’t a rookie, since he eclipsed the 130 at-bat mark in 2005.
Honkers win Northwoods League title
I covered the Rochester Honkers, one of the teams in the Northwoods League, in a previous Crack of the Bat column. In that column I noted that the Honkers were clearly the most talented team in the league, and that talent propelled the Honkers to the league title this summer, as they easily handled their opponents winning all four of their playoff games, beating the Thunder Bay Border Cats in the title game. With a 54-18 final record, the Honkers set news standards in the Northwoods League in wins and winning percentage (.750).
The entire Northwoods League also broke their season-long, league-wide regular season attendance record by drawing 797,752 fans this season. The previous record was set last year, as the league continues to get bigger and better.
And speaking of the Northwoods League, be sure to visit PG Crosschecker.com, where Allan Simpson currently is compiling the top prospects from all of the summer collegiate leagues from across the nation:
http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/summer/summerbball.aspx
Aflac Correction
In my last column I noted that Tim Alderson was the only pitcher in the Aflac All-American Classic that didn’t allow a single baserunner. It was kindly brought to my attention that lefty Joshua Smoker, the last pitcher to throw for the East squad, also pitched a perfect frame. We here at Perfect Game are well aware of Smoker’s exploits over the last few years, particularly his impressive performance at last fall’s Jupiter WWBA tournament as a high school junior. While we have seen Smoker better than what he showed us in San Diego, it did impress me that he worked so well, and quickly, without his best stuff, inducing three fly-ball outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. On top of that, Smoker was the only pitcher that was able to retire Josh Vitters.
The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.