Baseball America's Top 20 Mid-Season Rookies

[BrewerBall13]

1. Geovany Soto, c, 25, Cubs
2. Evan Longoria, 3b, 22, Rays
3. Jair Jurrjens, rhp, 22, Braves
4. Kosuke Fukudome, rf, 31, Cubs
5. Joba Chamberlain, rhp, 22, Yankees
6. Joey Votto, 1b, 24, Reds
7. Greg Smith, lhp, 24, Athletics
8. Jacoby Ellsbury, cf, 24, Red Sox
9. David Murphy, of, 26, Rangers
10. Armando Galarraga, rhp, 26, Tigers
11. Blake DeWitt, 3b, 22, Dodgers
12. John Lannan, lhp, 23, Nationals
13. Ben Francisco, of, 26, Indians
14. Nick Blackburn, rhp, 26, Twins
15. Jim Johnson, rhp, 25, Orioles
16. Aaron Laffey, lhp, 23, Indians
17. Sean Gallagher, rhp, 22, Cubs/A's
18. Justin Masterson, rhp, 23, Red Sox
19. John Bowker, 1b/rf, 24, Giants
20. Alexei Ramirez, 2b/cf, 26, White Sox

They used a variation of B-R.com's black & gray ink. Black: Player leads all rookies. Gray: Player ranks either second or third among rookies.

At first I was a little surprised Ellsbury ranked so high, given how he crapped the bed in June. But based on overall production, he's been pretty solid and certainly merits a lofty rating among rookies. I was worried that splitting timein CF would slow his adjustment to MLB pitchers he hasn't seen yet, but that hasn't been the case. If anything, taking over nearly every day in LF after Papi went down put him in a funk for a few weeks, though he's back to his old self so far in July:

.268 AVG, .344 OBP, .383 SLG, 269 AB, 5 HR, 8 DB, 4 TR, 34 SB, 4 CS
Black Ink: SB, 3B. Gray Ink: R (54).

The AL leader in stolen bases (in less playing time than No. 2 Ichiro Suzuki), Ellsbury, like most rookies here, hit a bump in the road in June (.245/.265/.327), but with the Red Sox’ offense still second in the league in runs scored, Boston can afford to carry his speed and glove for now.

Masterson is clearly the unsung hero of the first half. With Buchholz struggling with control, and Colon slow to arrive at Fenway even before his injury, this kid's really bridged the gap in the #5 slot better than any of us could have expected:

4-1, 3.75 ERA, 48 IP, 34 H, 37 K, 26 BB, 8 HR, 1.69 G/F

More strikeouts than hits allowed and more groundouts than fly outs are positive signs, but still Masterson has given up an average of one home run per start. With his plus sinker, though, that home run rate should level off over time. Either way, the Red Sox certainly aren’t complaining, seeing as they’ve been without Curt Schilling all season, Daisuke Matsuzaka for a stretch and Clay Buchholz since his May demotion.

And just to rub it in, here's the blurb on Murphy:

.270 AVG, .308 OBP, .451 SLG, 315 AB, 10 HR, 23 DB, 2 TR, 5 SB, 2 CS
Black Ink: AB, H (85), 2B, RBIs (52), TB (142). Gray Ink: R (44).

All this—plus Engel Beltre and Kason Gabbard—for two-plus months of Eric Gagne? The Rangers would make that trade again. Last year, the Rangers trotted out Marlon Byrd, Nelson Cruz and Kenny Lofton most frequently as outfielders. This year, they’ve used Murphy, Josh Hamilton, Brandon Boggs and, occasionally, Milton Bradley (the regular DH) the most, and they’ve jumped to the head of the AL in scoring.

BA also gives us their Top 10 Rookies To Watch In the second half:

Mike Aviles, ss, Royals
Daric Barton, 1b, Athletics
Jay Bruce, cf, Reds
Clay Buchholz, rhp, Red Sox
Jeff Clement, c, Mariners
Johnny Cueto, rhp, Reds
Chris Davis, 1b, Rangers
Carlos Gonzalez, cf, Athletics
Chase Headley, lf/3b, Padres
Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Dodgers

Among AL players, Ellsbury and Masterson rank #4 and #11. Not too shabby...

[HollywoodLeo]

Get Fukudome off this list. He's not a rookie.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Get Fukudome off this list. He's not a rookie.

Unfortunately, technically, he is.

Jay Bruce could make a serious run and contend against Soto. I think he's Soto's only competition besides Fukudome in the NL

[Doppelgänger]

I wonder if they will ever put a rule in place to keep guys like Fukudume out of rookie status.

[Halladay_is_God]

nice to see Votto at 6th

[HollywoodLeo]

Unfortunately, technically, he is.

Jay Bruce could make a serious run and contend against Soto. I think he's Soto's only competition besides Fukudome in the NL

I know he technichally is, but I don't care about technicalities.

He isn't a rookie, MLB just says he is.