AL Rookie Roundup

Jason Michael Barker

Welcome to the first in-season look at the 2003 crop of American League rookies. I decided against writing this article last month, as the season was so young and the sample sizes so small... that's still somewhat the case, of course, but not quite as much. In any event -- and I probably say this at the start of every season -- the rookie class doesn't look very strong at this point in the year. There's still time, though, both for the current rookies to get going and for new rookies to come up from the minors.

Everyone's favorite post-season loophole reliever, Anaheim's Francisco Rodriguez, was expected to dominate the league the same way he did last October but so far he's fallen short of those expectations. It's only 15 innings, but to this point Rodriguez has looked rather ordinary, with a 5.40 ERA and eight walks allowed. He's also struck out 14 batters and held opposing hitters to a .218 average, so it's not as if he's pitched poorly either. Perhaps the lesson here is that nobody should have expected him to pitch as well as he did last season or last post-season, despite his great stuff.

The White Sox inexplicably signed Sandy Alomar Jr. last winter, although they do seem committed to giving Miguel Olivo his share of work behind the plate. Olivo brings an interesting mix of skills as a catcher, the most interesting of which is his speed -- he stole 29 bases and hit 10 triples at AA last season, numbers unheard of for a backstop. He's also considered sound defensively, which is good since his bat has yet to get going this season. He's hitting just .222 and not drawing walks either, though five of his 12 hits (42%) have gone for extra bases, a good sign of the pop in his bat. Perhaps more so than with any other position, you just have to be patient with young catchers.

One rookie off to a good start this season is Cleveland starter Ricardo Rodriguez, who won a spot in the starting rotation this spring. Rodriguez has averaged 6 1/3 innings per start, with a 3.32 ERA and solid 1.21 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched). His walk rate -- less than three per nine innings -- has been strong as well, though his 20:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio isn't that hot. This may be a sign of struggles to come, but so far the Indians have to be pleased with his progress this season.

Most people agreed that the Tigers were rushing Jeremy Bonderman to the majors this season, not letting him pitch a single inning above high-A ball before dropping him into a big league rotation. He certainly has struggled at times and been hit very hard at others, but he has also fashioned a couple of very good starts and his ratios are respectable. On April 23 he beat the A's 4-1, working 8 innings and allowing only one run on three hits, no walks and five strikeouts. Sunday, he held the Devil Rays to three hits over six innings, fanning five and walking just one.

For the year, Bonderman is walking just 2.5 batters per nine, with a 26:9 K:BB ratio in 32 innings. He has also allowed 38 hits and has a 5.91 ERA, so it's not as if he's shutting opposing teams down out there, but all things considered he hasn't pitched poorly. That said, he really should be pitching in AA this season instead of taking his lumps on a very, very poor Detroit team.

Mike MacDougal was all the talk this spring, winning the Royals' closer job out of spring training despite less than 25 innings of big league work. Sure enough, he started the season on fire, just like his team, saving his first ten opportunities with a 1.50 ERA. What went unnoticed were his mediocre peripherals -- particularly his poor command -- which came back to bite him as he blew his next two saves. MacDougal has walked nine hitters in 12 2/3 innings, and he's giving up too many hits (10) to get away with all those walks. I can't take credit for this idea because I read it elsewhere this week, but the Royals should consider using Jason Grimsley as their closer and letting MacDougal work lower pressure innings when games aren't on the line, at least until his control gets better.

Leave it to the Yankees to get something positive out of Derek Jeter's shoulder injury. Erick Almonte wasn't considered much a prospect entering this season -- partly because of his struggles last season in the minors, and partly because everybody knew he'd never break through the Jeter-Soriano middle infield -- but suddenly he has played his way into being a tradable commodity. Almonte hasn't been stellar in Jeter's absence, but his .272/.337/.370 line has some clubs thinking they would mind him as their long-term shortstop, and the Yankees are reportedly willing to deal him for some relief help once Jeter is back fully healthy.

New York's much higher profile rookie, Hideki Matsui, has been out-hit by Almonte so far this season -- how embarrassing. Matsui got off to a nice start, but has slumped considerably since the dozen or so games of the season, failing to homer since April 14. In fact, he has just one extra-base hit in his last 13 games, and only 27% of his hits on the year have been more than singles. His walk rate is nothing stellar right now, either. This isn't to say he won't get things turned around, but so far Matsui has not lived up to the hype.

Perhaps the biggest story among the "enlightened" baseball community this spring was a serious warning to anyone getting too excited about Tampa Bay's Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli zipped through the minors last season but showed little in the way of plate discipline, then won a starting spot this spring by impressing new skipper Lou Piniella. Much to everyone's surprise, Baldelli started the year on a tear, with at least one hit in his first eleven games and 24 of his first 27. All this despite drawing just four walks (against 33 strikeouts) in 128 at-bats, putting him on pace for 21 and 172 over the course of the season. I'd love to tell you he can't keep it up, but everyone said the same thing about Alfonso Soriano and he seems to be some sort of wild exception to the rule, so who am I to discount Baldelli?

Tune in next week for a look at the top rookies in the National League.

about the author

Jason Michael Barker was the victim of several rainouts in recent weeks. Send a poncho or jumbo-sized umbrella to jmb@strikethree.com.

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