Pete Alonso and Eloy Jimenez: A Tale of Two Rookies
The game of baseball has been getting younger. We’ve seen an incredible influx of talented players who in years past would still be toiling in the minors. This year, we even saw teams throw service time considerations to the wind and allow their top prospects to start the season on the big league club.
It’s possible that teams just didn’t want to have to look of “deliberately” manipulating service time to avoid collusion claims from the union. Or possibly teams just didn’t want to deal with the PR problem that holding back a player like Kris Bryant caused the Cubs.
Or, and this is a very real possibility, these teams just wanted to field their best players for as many games as they can. It sounds crazy and even a little fiscally irresponsible.
Opening Day saw the Mets’ Pete Alonso, the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and the White Sox’s Eloy Jimenez make their Major League debuts. They immediately joined the mix of top prospects on rosters with a good shot at the Rookie of the Year Award.
The Blue Jays’ Danny Jansen, the Nationals’ Victor Robles and the Rays’ Brandon Lowe are rookies who already had some Major League experience, but who figured to be key players on their teams this year.
We’re just two weeks in, but we’ve already got two pretty disparate examples of how this can go.
Pete Alonso, Mets 1B
He surged up the prospect boards last year with elite power and plate discipline. Before the Mets started making offseason acquisitions, it seemed like Alonso was a lock to be the Mets starting first baseman. After they brought in Robinson Cano and Jed Lowrie, the infield seemed like it might be filled up and Alonso would start in the minors.
A couple of injuries later, the team was forced to let their best prospect play. And it has paid off immediately. The hype is real and Alonso is already a favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year, racing past Robles and Tatis Jr.
He’s got a wRC+ of 244 (100 is considered average) and his defense as been adequate. His strikeout rate is a little high at 30% but that’s true of so many players these days. Alonso also provides the Mets with a right-handed offensive threat to go along with Cano and outfielder Michael Conforto. Clearly, the team made the right choice in calling him up, even if their hand was forced a bit by circumstance.
Eloy Jimenez, White Sox OF
Many people thought the White Sox should have brought Jimenez up last year. He was just eating up minor league pitchers. The team gave him a nice contract extension in Spring Training, so we knew they didn’t have to worry about his service time.
Jimenez isn’t a big power guy. His game is more about contact and barreling up on pitches. There’s always been some question about his walk rate. Does he not take walks because of poor zone recognition or is he just really good at hitting balls that are strikes?
So far, the jury is out at the Major League level. He’s got a 79 wRC+ and his 30% strikeout rate looks kind of grim next to his 4% walk rate. He doesn’t have any home runs yet. And while his batting average is a decent .280, almost all of his hits are singles. At least he’s not matching Danny Jansen’s wRC+ of 6 (yes, 6).
The White Sox, as a whole, haven’t quite clicked offensively, and it’s a young team that is taking its lumps. Jimenez has an exceptional track record for hitting the baseball really well. It’s a safe bet he’ll get the strikeouts under control and start knocking the ball around the park.
I Know, It’s Early
There are more prospects coming. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Nick Senzel should be up shortly. The Astros’ Forrest Whitley and Kyle Tucker will be here in the summer. The game is getting younger.
But lost in all of this excitement for these young players is that they are young players. And now that everyone knows the league is getting younger, there is more pressure on these guys to hit the ground running … or hitting.
Even the great Mike Trout was not very good when he first came up. His first weeks of game action resulted in an 87 wRC+. Then Mike Trout turned into Mike Trout. But what if these prospects don’t turn into the next Mike Trout? What if they turn into Byron Buxton?
When Dustin Pedroia started with the Red Sox, his numbers were bad. And then something clicked, and, as he has been quoted as saying, “Laser Show.”
No matter how slow any of these guys start, maybe something will click and they’ll have their own laser show.
