Too Early To Call?
The second month of the 2023 MLB season is already in full effect, which means there is already a ranking for the awards granted after this season, specifically Rookie of the Year.
Two key candidates to look at closely this season are Los Angeles Dodgers center field James Outman and Arizona Diamondbacks left-fielder Corbin Carroll who is slowly but definitely surely making his own into the Rookie of the Year conservations for the National League.
Courtesy of: Instagram @corbin.carroll (Getty Images)
Corbin Carroll was acknowledged as one of the top prospects in baseball during 2022 and the Diamondbacks front office decided in a brief debut to sign him after his MLB debut at the end of August 2022. Only having about 104 at-bats during last year’s season left him to enter this year as one of the favorites for the National League Rookie of the Year race. According to Baseball Reference, Carroll’s current batting average is .301.
Courtesy of: Instagram @jamesoutman (Getty Images)
James Outman was always known to be a top prospect from the Los Angeles Dodgers but he was not considered the “one” Miguel Vargas was. Outman has stolen early headlines at the beginning of the season since taking over the position of center fielder after Cody Bellinger was non-tendered during the offseason. According to Baseball Reference, his current batting average is .234. Even though Outman has a pretty unsustainable strikeout rate of 33% which raises some questions it still doesn’t lower his chances of receiving the award.
Other players to watch:
OF Masataka Yoshida, Boston Red Sox
1B Ryan Noda, Oakland Athletics
RHP Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays
OF Esteury Ruiz, Oakland Athletics
SS Anthony Volpe, New York Yankees
RHP Yennier Cano, Baltimore Orioles
3B Josh Jung, Texas Rangers
Who do you have your hopes on for winning Rookie of the Year?