We are just a few games away from learning who will be heading to the World Series. The Brewers, thankfully(?) dispatched the Dodgers and are now waiting to see who will win the AL pennant between the Guardians and the Rays. Can the Guardians continue to prove that their late season push to the postseason was not in vain? Will the Rays show the rest of the world why they were the number 1 team in the American League??!
Well, we're not here to answer those questions.
Another one of the topics I wrote about on this humble, little blog was trying to guess which players will make Topps' All-Star Rookie Team. I even used to have a contest to go with it, having readers (I had them back then) send me their rosters, and if they successfully named 10 (or whatever number) of the players who made the ASRT, they'd get recognition and a complete set of 2005 Topps Rookie Cup which consists of the 150 base cards. I still have the set but there won't be a contest this year. While Topps has produced more "Rookie Cup" type sets, they've been mostly sold via the Topps Now program or relegated to insert sets. I'd love to see an "addendum" to the 2005 set, featuring players who've been named to the ASRT since 2006 (and maybe sneak in reprints of 2027 Topps cards like they akin to including reprints of 2006 Topps in a 2005 product). I digress.
Even with next season possibly in flux (and figures that the Cubs were announced as the hosts of next year's All-Star Game...will it even happen??!), it's worth talking about the players who burst onto the scene this year and will be making an impact in the MLB going into 2027(?) and beyond. And there are so many possible candidates, most will stir debates long after the final out is played in the World Series.
So who are the contenders. Let's review.
Perusing the MLB website, the stats page allows fans and visitors to sort players by many categories, including "qualified rookies." So what are qualified rookies? Rookie eligibility is, by definition from MLB,
A player shall be considered a rookie unless he has exceeded any of the following thresholds in a previous season (or seasons):• 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues.• 45 total days on an active Major League roster during the Championship Season (excluding time on the Injured List).
The players that appear, whether on hitting or pitching statistics, are among the players MLB believes are contenders for either League's Rookie of the Year. The players can be filtered by position, including individual OF positions. Only drawback? It doesn't show which pitchers throw left-handed or right-handed. You can figure out who the rookie starting pitchers are vs the rookie relievers, which is important now that relief pitchers are included in the selection process.
I read somewhere (possibly a Topps Magazine) that the =MLB managers were the ones who chose the players for the team. I was told a while back that it is no longer the case. And while the person I talked to about this wasn't sure when the practice of asking the managers to vote stopped, based on the past few years' worth of rosters, I can only speculate when the change occurred.
The stats are final through the end of the regular 2026 MLB season (September 27, 2026):
First Basemen:
Bryce Eldridge, SFG (107 G, .269, 17 HR, 57 RBI, .825 OPS, 1 SB)*
Munetaka Murakami, CWS (127 G, 0.207, 35 HR, 77 RBI, 0.825 OPS, 1 SB)
TJ Rumfield, COL (155 G, .300, 16 HR, 73 RBI, 0.843 OPS, 0 SB)
Sal Stewart, CIN (162 G, .263, 32 HR, 112 RBI, 0.787 OPS, 15 SB)
Second Basemen:
Travis Bazzana, CLE (124 G, .245, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 0.743 OPS, 19 SB)
Alex Freeland, LAD (89 G, .234, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 0.652 OPS, 4 SB)
Hao-Yu Lee, DET (114 G, .264, 10 HR, 45 RBI, 0.746 OPS, 3 SB)
Pedro Ramirez, CHC (80 G, .261, 6 HR, 32 RBI, 0.723 OPS, 9 SB)
JJ Wetherholt, STL (139 G, .242, 17 HR, 51 RBI, 0.704 OPS, 14 SB)
Third Basemen:
Kazuma Okamoto, TOR (156 G, .232, 33 HR, 92 RBI, 0.762 OPS, 1 SB)
Denzer Guzman, LAA (87 G, .219, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 0.602 OPS, 2 SB)
Shortstops:
Konnor Griffin, PIT (80 G, .272, 6 HR, 33 RBI, .728 OPS, 23 SB)
Kevin McGonigle, DET (156 G, .278, 18 HR, 72 RBI, .806 OPS, 12 SB)
Cooper Pratt, MIL (74 G, .281, 3 HR, 34 RBI, .718 OPS, 19 SB)
Outfielders:
Sam Antonacci, CWS (140 G, .277, 8 HR, 48 RBI, 0.766 OPS, 20 SB)
Dylan Beavers, BAL (104 G, .228, 9 HR, 44 RBI, 0.680 OPS, 5 SB)
Carson Benge, NYM (156 G, .282, 20 HR, 65 RBI, 0.776 OPS, 22 SB)
Henry Bolte, ATH (119 G, .277, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 0.764 OPS, 21 SB)
Owen Caissie, MIA (108 G, .220, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 0.700 OPS, 5 SB)
Cole Carrigg, COL (93 G, .279, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 0.818 OPS, 11 SB)
Nathan Church, STL (142 G, .247, 10 HR, 50 RBI, .654 OPS, 10 SB)
Justin Crawford, PHI (149 G, .264, 3 HR, 41 RBI, .662 OPS, 17 SB)
Chase DeLauter, CLE (133 G, .287, 16 HR, 67 RBI, .820 OPS, 11 SB)
A.J. Ewing, NYM (120 G, .252, 11 HR, 43 RBI, .700 OPS, 25 SB)
Spencer Jones, NYY (86 G, .245, 11 HR, 40 RBI, .742 OPS, 11 SB)
Wade Meckler, LAA (98 G, .300, 3 HR, 27 RBI, .760 OPS, 8 SB)
Victor Mesa Jr., TBR (79 G, .260, 14 HR, 34 RBI, .825 OPS, 9 SB)
Tristan Peters, CWS (156 G, .265, 12 HR, 56 RBI, .774 OPS, 8 SB)
Esmerlyn Valdez, PIT (72 G, .232, 17 HR, 47 RBI, .855 OPS, 0 SB)
Ryan Waldschmidt, ARI (82 G, .256, 3 HR, 22 RBI, .693 OPS, 7 SB)
Catchers:
Moises Ballesteros, LAA (104 G, .215, 9 HR, 35 RBI, .612 OPS, 1 SB)
Samuel Basallo, BAL (112 G, .222, 18 HR, 54 RBI, .697 OPS, 0 SB)
Carter Jensen, KCR (149 G, .239, 27 HR, 81 RBI, .790 OPS, 2 SB)
Joe Mack, MIA (105 G, .234, 14 HR, 52 RBI, .685 OPS, 0 SB)
Brandon Valenzuela, TOR (91 G, .222, 9 HR, 23 RBI, .679 OPS, 2 SB)
Right-Handed Starting Pitchers:
Bubba Chandler, PIT (30 GS, 8-10, 4.50 ERA, 140 K, 1.40 WHIP)
Logan Henderson MIL (18 GS, 11-3, 2.47 ERA, 110 K, 0.84 WHIP)
Ryan Johnson, LAA (19 GS, 5-9, 5.04 ERA, 79 K, 1.39 WHIP)
Rhett Lowder, CIN (26 GS, 7-12, 5.74 ERA, 103 K, 1.52 WHIP)
Nolan McLean, NYM (31 GS, 12-10, 3.16 ERA, 194 K, 1.17 WHIP)
Andrew Painter, PHI (23 GS, 3-10, 5.40 ERA, 115 K, 1.41 WHIP)
Brandon Sproat, MIL (19 GS, 3-7, 5.57 ERA, 101 K, 1.44 WHIP)
Walbert Ureña, LAA (27 GS, 9-11, 2.97 ERA, 142 K, 1.23 WHIP)
Trey Yesavage, TOR (20 GS, 5-6, 3.69 ERA, 97 K, 1.14 WHIP)
Left-Handed Starting Pitchers:
Andrew Alvarez, WAS (17 GS, 3.43 ERA, 114 K, 1.30 WHIP)
Jake Bennett, BOS (19 GS, 9-7, 3.65 ERA, 91 K, 1.10 WHIP)
Shane Drohan, MIL (19 GS, 7-5, 4.19 ERA, 125 K, 21 WHIP, 2 SV)
Connelly Early, WAS (18 GS, 7-5, 94.2 ERA, 94 K, 1.23 WHIP)
Robert Gasser, MIL (27 GS, 5-5, 3.87 ERA, 103 K, 1.19 WHIP)
Foster Griffin, CLE, (31 GS, 15-6, 3.60 ERA, 158 K, 1.21 WHIP)
Gage Jump, ATH (20 GS, 6-11, 5.47 ERA, 108 K, 1.52 WHIP)
Parker Messick, CLE (32 GS, 12-9, 2.56 ERA, 193 K, 1.06 WHIP)
Connor Prielipp, MIN (22 GS, 6-7, 4.87 ERA, 128 K, 1.29 WHIP)
Zac Thornton, NYM (15 GS, 5-6, 3.42 ERA, 63 K, 1.14 WHIP)
Payton Tolle, BOS (26 GS, 9-6, 3.03 ERA, 171 K, 1.10 WHIP)
Relief Pitchers:
AJ Blubaugh, HOU (64 G, 5-3, 3.66 ERA, 94 K, 1.23 WHIP, 1 SV)
Spencer Miles, TOR (49 G, 6-2, 2.73 ERA, 93 K, 1.10 WHIP, 2 SV)
Designated Hitter:
*The only player mlb.com recognized as a DH was Bryce Eldridge of the Giants.
In the beginning, there were only 10 spots on Topps' ASRT: 1 player for each infield position, 1 catcher, 3 outfielders (I believe regardless of position), 1 right-handed pitcher, and 1 left-handed pitcher, regardless if they were a starter or a reliever.
In 2010, Topps instituted what I am calling the "Stephen Strasburg" rule. Strasburg, the wunderkind rookie, was added to the ASRT even though he only pitched in 12 games. Strasburg is a right-handed pitcher. But so was Neftali Feliz, who at the time was the star closer for the Rangers, and a player in most years would have been named onto the team as the RHP. So what happened? With Strasburg named as the RHP for the team, Feliz was named the team's first relief pitcher.
In 2011, Topps went back to the two-pitcher format, but instead of it being a RHP and LHP as in years past, the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team included just one Starting Pitcher (the Rays' Jeremy Hillickson) and one Relief pitcher (Craig Kimbrel of the Braves). Topps returned to the three-man pitching staff in 2012, and this has been the arrangement ever since.
The designated hitter position was first used in 1977 when future Hall-of-Famer Eddie Murray of the Orioles had split votes between first base and the outfield to make it onto the team outright, but not at either position. The DH was not utilized again until 2015, when Miguel Sanó of the Twins was named onto that year's ASRT. The slot was used on-and-off for a time, when Shohei Ohtani (2018) and Yordan Alvarez (2019) were named to the teams. But now that both leagues use the DH in games, there has been one named to the ASRT since 2022.
The day the players are selected to the team has varied from year to year, with the last few being announced in mid-December. I'll post my picks for the team soon. Feel free to share your selections in the comments, even though there isn't a contest this year.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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