a

 

AL Rookie Round-Up

Jason Michael Barker

It's that time of the month again. No, not that time. Time to revisit the American League's top rookies. Oakland's Ben Grieve continues to dazzle, while the other three youngsters have yet to live up to their potential. What gives? Let's take a look.

Ben Grieve
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	AVG
61	241	49	76	19	2	8	37	30	41	0	.407	.510	.315

Is there anything he can't do? Grieve followed up a stellar April with an equally impressive May. His second month saw a 80-point increase in slugging, as well as more walks and fewer strikeouts in the same number of at-bats. It is his plate discipline that sets him apart from other players his age, and even from many veteran players. While most rookies are still learning the strike zone and don't walk often, Grieve has showed both remarkable judgment and patience at the plate. His 30 walks and .407 on-base percentage lead all major-league rookies, and the latter statistic is in the top 20 in all of baseball. This is all pretty amazing considering he's only 22 years of age and essentially skipped Triple-A (108 AB with Edmonton last season). Just for comparison, Grieve is getting on base at a better clip this season than all of the following players: Larry Walker, Chuck Knoblach, Craig Biggio, Tony Gwynn, Roberto Alomar, and Mo Vaughn. Did I mention that he's only 22? Look for him to win his first MVP around 2002.

Magglio Ordonez
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	AVG
55	202	29	51	9	1	7	25	12	29	3	.295	.411	.252

Ah, the contrast. Following a solid performance (.918 OPS) during his late-season callup in 1997, there was almost as much Rookie of the Year hype for Ordonez as there was for Grieve. But unfortunately for Magglio, he's hit more like Rey Ordonez so far this season. His biggest problem has been (you guessed it) strike zone judgment. 29 strikeouts isn't all that bad a number (comparable to Grieve's 41 in a few more at-bats), but the 12 walks just aren't getting it done. He hasn't drawn a single walk batting in front of Frank Thomas, lending support to the idea that he's getting "better pitches to hit with a great hitter behind him" (a.k.a. "protection"). Is there any hope? Sure there is. Ordonez actually has a .400 OBP when batting sixth, which suggests that he'd be better off without the pressure of hitting second. Of course, with the White Sox as bad as they are, I don't see how anyone other than manager Jerry Manuel is feeling much pressure.

Todd Greene (AAA Stats)
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	OBP	SLG	AVG
10	33	1	12	7	0	0	4	4	2	0	.447	.576	.364

Yawn. We all know he can hit Triple-A pitching, as he's shown the past two seasons. Anaheim would really like to have Greene in the lineup, but he continues to rehab in Vancouver, building up strength in his shoulder. In the meantime, the Angels have had decent production from Phil Nevin (.795 OPS), but insist on playing Matt Walbeck and his .329 OBP as the regular catcher. With Greene poised to make his return within the month, it will be interesting to see what the Angels decide to do, roster-wise. Nevin is younger and appears to be a much better hitter than Walbeck, but that's never stopped managers from sticking with the "proven veteran" (see Piniella, Lou). Walbeck will probably serve as the backup backstop, while Nevin, who can also play the outfield as well as first and third, sticks around as a utility man.

Ken Cloude
G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	W	L	SV	ERA
12	12	0	0	62.1	73	40	39	12	36	43	3	4	0	5.63

Things are looking a little bit better for Cloude than they were on the last edition of the roundup, but he's still not performing as the Mariners had hoped. His problems are fairly obvious from looking at his numbers: a poor K:BB ratio, as well as giving up 12 home runs. Surrendering the longball isn't all that bad as long as there are no runners on, but when you're allowing 1.74 baserunners per inning those harmless solo shots become two- and three-run blasts. Cloude could take a lesson from teammate Jeff Fassero, who himself has allowed 13 home runs in 66.1 innings, but has only walked 22 batters. Cloude's struggles have called to mind former Mariner pitching prospect Bob Wolcott (taken by Arizona in the Expansion Draft), who never seemed to be able to put it all together in consecutive starts. Cloude jumped to the majors from Double-A last season, and perhaps would have been better off spending this season polishing his game in Triple-A.

Jason Michael Barker is currently experiencing all the fun of that college phenomenon known as "Finals Week", and loving every minute of it. He's starting to burn out though, so he'd love it if you could send caffeine, two bluebooks and a cheat sheet to jmb@strikethree.com.