Okay, the season is more than two weeks over, and the Championship Series on both sides are getting extremely interesting. But before the World Series begins, I'd like to go over the Top Rookies of 2011.
Why?
Because these are the guys that are going to be strong contenders for the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team, that's why.
Anyway, perusing the MLB website, they have added a set of statistics in a section called the Top Rookie Tracker. This section features just a handful of the players MLB believes are contenders for either League's Rookie of the Year. And believe it or not, the players on the list they have provided stats for well represent each of the positions Topps uses for their Rookie All-Star team (1b, 2b, 3b, ss, three outfield, c, rhp, lhp, and relief pitcher…ahem...will explain this in a minute). So below is a list of potential nominees that the 30 MLB managers will see when they cast their votes for the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. The stats are as of the end of the 2011 regular season:
First basemen:
Jesus Guzman, SD (76 G, 0.312, 5 HR, 44 RBI, 0.847 OPS)
Eric Hosmer, KC (128 G, 0.293, 19 HR, 78 RBI)
Mark Trumbo, LAA (149 G, 0.254, 29 HR, 87 RBI)
Freddie Freeman, ATL (157 G, 0.282, 21 HR, 76 RBI)
Lucas Duda, NYM (100 G, 0.292, 10 HR, 50 RBI, 0.852 OPS)
Brandon Belt, SF (63 G, 0.225, 9 HR, 18 RBI)
Second basemen:
Jose Altuve, HOU (57 G, 0.276, 2 HR, 12 RBI)
Justin Turner, NYM (117 G, 0.260, 4 HR, 51 RBI)
Jason Kipnis, CLE (36 G, 0.272, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 0.841 OPS)
Dustin Ackley, SEA (90 G, 0.273, 6 HR, 36 RBI)
Darwin Barney, CHC (143 G, 0.276, 2 HR, 43 RBI)
Danny Espinosa, WSH (158 G, 0.236, 21 HR, 66 RBI, 17 SB)
Jemile Weeks, OAK (97 G, 0.303, 2 HR, 36 RBI, 22 SB)
Third basemen:
Daniel Descalso, STL (148 G, 0.264, 1 HR, 28 RBI)
Brent Morel, CWS (126 G, 0.245, 10 HR, 41 RBI)
Eduardo Nunez, NYY (112 G, 0.265, 5 HR, 30 RBI, 22 SB)
Brett Lawrie, TOR (43 G, 0.293, 9 HR, 25 RBI, 0.953 OPS)
Shortstop:
Tsuyoshi Nishioka, MIN (68 G, 0.226, 0 HR, 19 RBI)
Dee Gordon, LAD (56 G, 0.304, 0 HR, 11 RBI, 24 SB)
Outfielders:
Eric Thames, TOR (95 G, 0.262, 12 HR, 37 RBI)
Ben Revere, MIN (117 G, 0.267, 0 HR, 30 RBI, 34 SB)
Casper Wells, SEA (95 G, 0.237, 11 HR, 27 RBI)
Doug Jennings, TB (63 G, 0.259, 10 HR, 25 RBI, 20 SB, 0.805 OPS)
Jerry Sands, LAD (61 G, 0.253, 4 HR, 26 RBI)
Domonic Brown, PHI (56 G, 0.245, 5 HR, 19 RBI)
Josh Reddick, BOS (87 G, 0.280, 7 HR, 28 RBI)
Mike Trout, LAA (40 G, 0.220, 5 HR, 16 RBI)
Jason Pridie, NYM (101 G, 0.231, 4 HR, 20 RBI)
Catchers:
J.P. Arencibia, TOR (129 G, 0.219, 23 HR, 78 RBI)
Hank Conger, LAA (59 G, 0.209, 6 HR, 19 RBI)
Wilson Ramos, WSH (113 G, 0.267, 15 HR, 52 RBI)
Right Handed Pitchers:
RHP Brandon Beachy, ATL (25 GS, 7-3, 3.68 ERA, 169 K, 1.207 WHIP)
RHP Tyler Chatwood, LAA (25 GS, 6-11, 4.75 ERA, 74 K, 1.669 WHIP)
RHP Josh Collmenter, ARI (24 GS, 10-10, 3.38 ERA, 100 K, 1.069 WHIP)
RHP Rubby De La Rosa, LAD (10 GS, 4-5, 3.71 ERA, 60 K, 1.401 WHIP)
RHP Kyle Drabek, TOR (14 GS, 4-5, 6.06 ERA, 51 K, 1.805 WHIP)
RHP Dillon Gee, NYM (27 GS, 13-6, 4.43 ERA, 114 K, 1.376 WHIP)
RHP Jeremy Hellickson, TB (29 GS, 13-10, 2.95 ERA, 117 K, 1.153 WHIP)
RHP Jordan Lyles, HOU (15 GS, 2-8, 5.36 ERA, 67 K, 1.415 WHIP)
RHP Guillermo Moscoso, OAK (21 GS, 8-10, 3.38 ERA, 74 K, 1.094 WHIP)
RHP Juan Nicasio, COL (13 GS, 4-4, 4.14 ERA, 58 K, 1.270 WHIP)
RHP Ivan Nova, NYY (27 GS, 16-4, 3.70 ERA, 98 K, 1.331 WHIP)
RHP Michael Pineda, SEA (28 GS, 9-10, 3.74 ERA, 173 K, 1.099 WHIP)
RHP Vance Worley, PHI (21 GS, 11-3, 3.01 ERA, 119 K, 1.23 WHIP)
Left Handed Pitchers:
LHP Zach Britton, BAL (28 GS, 11-11, 4.61 ERA, 97 K, 1.451 WHIP)
LHP Danny Duffy, KC (20 GS, 4-8, 5.64 ERA, 87 K, 1.614 WHIP)
LHP Cory Luebke, SD (17 GS, 6-10, 3.29 ERA, 154 K, 1.067 WHIP)
Relief Pitchers:
LHP Aroldis Chapman, CIN (54 G, 4-1, 3.6 ERA, 71 K, 1.300 WHIP, 1 SV)
LHP Tim Collins, KC (68 G, 4-4, 3.63 ERA, 60 K, 1.493 WHIP, 0 SV)
LHP Jake McGee, TB (37 G, 5-2, 4.50 ERA, 27 K, 1.500 WHIP, 0 SV)
LHP Chris Sale, CWS (58 G, 2-2, 2.79 ERA, 79 K, 1.113 WHIP, 8 SV)
RHP Al Alburquerque, DET (41 G, 6-1, 1.87 ERA, 67 K, 1.154 WHIP, 0 SV)
RHP Aaron Crow, KC (57 G, 4-4, 2.76 ERA, 65 K, 1.387 WHIP, 0 SV)
RHP Marco Estrada, MIL (43 G, 4-8, 4.08 ERA, 88 K, 1.209 WHIP, 0 SV)
RHP Javy Guerra, LAD (47 G, 2-2, 2.31 ERA, 38 K, 1.179 WHIP, 21 SV)
RHP Kenley Jansen, LAD (51 G, 2-1, 2.85 ERA, 96 K, 1.043 WHIP, 5 SV)
RHP Craig Kimbrel, ATL (79 G, 4-3, 2.10 ERA, 127 K, 1.039 WHIP, 46 SV)
RHP Vinnie Pestano, CLE (67 G, 1-2, 2.32 ERA, 84 K, 1.048 WHIP, 2 SV)
RHP Eduardo Sanchez, STL (26 G, 3-1, 1.80 ERA, 35 K, 1.000 WHIP, 5 SV)
RHP Michael Stutes, PHI (57 G, 6-2, 3.63 ERA, 58 K, 1.242 WHIP, 0 SV)
RHP Jordan Walden, LAA (62 G, 5-5, 2.98 ERA, 67 K, 1.243 WHIP, 32 SV)
If you're wondering why I separated the starting pitchers from the relief pitchers, allow me to explain (conspiracy theory time folks…get something to drink, this may take a while).
As you all know, Topps instituted what I am calling the "Stephen Strasburg" rule in 2010 (Somehow, Strasburg was added to the ASRT even though he only pitched in 12 games. Now, Strasburg is a right-handed pitcher. But so is Neftali Feliz, the star closer for the Rangers, and a player many people believed should have been named onto the team as the RHP. In past years, it didn't matter if a pitcher was a starter or a reliever, only ONE RHP or ONE LHP was chosen for the team (of course there were exceptions…tie votes came into play).
So what does Topps do? For the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie Team, they added a relief pitcher spot. This ensured not only Feliz' spot on the team, but gave Topps justification to include their poster boy Strasburg.
Back to the point. As in past years, this blog has done a contest where the object is to outguess me in choosing the Rookie Teams. The Grand Prize, if a contestant correctly guessed all the members of said team, was a complete 150 card set of 2005 Topps Rookie Cup (appropriate, no?). Anyway, while few have come close, none have won the grand prize. Those who did guess more players correctly than I did would win a pack of that year's Updates and Highlights/Update Series.
Well, we're doing it again.
So take a look at the list above, send me an e-mail (bdj610@hotmail.com) with your picks by November 1, 2011. At that time, I will make my selections and then we will all wait together until the formal announcements have been made. If you out guess me, let's say I guess seven of the 10 or 11 spots correctly, and you guess eight or more, then you automatically win a Hobby pack of 2011 Topps Update Series. If you guess all the players correctly (if there are ten or eleven, who knows), then you will be entered into a drawing to win the 2005 Topps Rookie Card base set (Beckett Value $20.00 - $40.00). It's that easy.
So here's to hopefully many entries by November 1. Good luck.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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