As long as Major League Baseball has had Rookie of the Year awards, veteran players from outside traditional minor-league structures have been winning them.
The first was Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman Jackie Robinson, who took home top honors in 1947 in his age-28 season—with racism and World War II to blame for him not debuting earlier. Boston Braves center fielder Sam Jethroe was 33 in 1950; he'd been a longtime Negro League outfielder for the Cleveland Buckeyes. In 2000, Seattle Mariners pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki was a 33-year-old NPB lifer.
At 26, Hyeseong Kim, the biggest riser of the past two weeks, is old in virtually no conventional sense. But he has managed to insert his name into the conversation with his younger, Western Hemisphere-trained counterparts. Welcome to this week's edition of MLB Rookie Watch.
American League
1. Jacob Wilson, shortstop, Athletics
A ho-hum recent stretch (.237/.310/.316) in the past two weeks has diminished his numbers a bit, but put practically no dent in his formidable lead in this race. Consider, for instance, that he's still hitting .349—second in the AL to New York Yankees right fielder and designated hitter Aaron Judge—with a .390 on-base percentage and .493 slugging percentage. In no world should a rookie who plays in a minor-league ballpark lead the All-Star voting at baseball’s signature fielding position. That's how good Wilson is.
2. Carlos Narváez, catcher, Boston Red Sox
Narváez helped carry an up-and-down Red Sox team through the season's early months, and now Boston is returning the favor. Since June 9, Narvaez is slashing .226/.333/.355—but the Red Sox are 6–3 in games he's played. Offense notwithstanding, his defense is so strong that Carlton Fisk, Tony Peña and Jason Varitek could soon have company as Boston catchers to win Gold Gloves. He's quietly in a dead bWAR heat with Wilson at 2.3.
3. Noah Cameron, pitcher, Kansas City Royals
On June 10, he briefly threatened to become mortal, giving up six earned runs in a 10–2 loss to the Yankees. No matter: Cameron gamely rebounded with five shutout innings against the Athletics and a solid-if-not-spectacular outing against the San Diego Padres. Pitching is the order of the day for a Royals team looming just out of the AL playoff picture. Look for the 25-year-old changeup artist to continue starring for a plus rotation.
Honorable Mention
Shane Smith, pitcher, Chicago White Sox; Nick Kurtz, first baseman, Athletics; Jasson Domínguez, left fielder, New York Yankees
National League
1. Drake Baldwin, catcher, Atlanta Braves
Copy and paste—Baldwin remains the king in the Senior Circuit despite modest numbers over the past two weeks. He did perform well in a high-profile rivalry sweep against the New York Mets, going 2-for-7 with two walks and driving in a pair of runs. That's the kind of series that can help Baldwin win the intangible political component of the voting, but the fickle Braves are doing him no favors. He continues to share dominion over the catching position with ex-All-Star Sean Murphy.
2. Hyeseong Kim, second baseman and center fielder, Los Angeles Dodgers
The May 3 debutant barely cleared the 75-plate-appearance threshold for this week's rankings (he has 83). In an admittedly small sample size, the 26-year-old has raked to the tune of a .372/.410/.538 slash line, two home runs and 12 RBIs. Those are wild numbers for a player whose primary calling card in the KBO League was defense, with four Golden Glove awards to his name in South Korea. He replaces Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks, whose numbers over the past two weeks have been a mixed bag.
3. Caleb Durbin, third basman, Milwaukee Brewers
Durbin takes the spot of Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw, who plays the same position on a better team with similar numbers. He's a fascinating player with an odd set of skills: defense (first among NL rookies in dWAR), the foggy art of clutch play (first among NL rookies in win probability added, mostly thanks to a walk-off home run earlier this month), and getting hit by pitches (first among all NL players). The former 14th-round pick out of St. Louis's brainy Washington University enjoyed a 5-for-13 series against the Minnesota Twins this weekend. Can he keep it up against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies?
Honorable Mention
Agustín Ramírez, catcher, Miami Marlins; Ben Casparius, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB Rookie Watch: A Dodger Shakes Up the National League Race.
