Major League Baseball

MLB Power Rankings: Who is each team’s best rookie?

Updated Jun. 19, 2023 12:03 p.m. ET

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Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

The youth movement in Cincinnati couldn’t have been scripted much better. 

With rookies Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer and Andrew Abbott all excelling, so is a Reds team that just swept the Astros and has now won seven straight overall as it challenges for the top spot in the National League Central. 

The Giants are on a similar run, winning six straight with the help of rookies Patrick Bailey and Luis Matos, while Arizona's Corbin Carroll and Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson continue lifting two of the top teams in baseball. 

This week’s Power Rankings include a look around the league at every team’s rookie standout. 

1) Tampa Bay Rays (51-24; last week 1) 
Some control issues have prevented Taj Bradley from going deep into games, but he struck out 11 of the 21 batters he faced his last time out and clearly has the stuff that should play at the highest level. He has 63 strikeouts in 43 innings, good for the highest ratio of strikeouts per nine innings (13.19) among all qualified MLB rookies. 

2) Atlanta Braves  (46-26; LW 3) 
Ask this question a month from now, and the answer will likely be AJ Smith-Shawver. But considering he has only pitched 13.1 innings, we'll go with Jared Shuster for now. Shuster has allowed no more than three runs in any of his past six starts. 

3) Baltimore Orioles (44-27; LW 4) 
Is it cheating to include multiple players here? Henderson is the obvious answer, particularly considering his OPS in June is over 1.100, but the most consistent rookie performer for the upstart Orioles has been reliever Yennier Cano. The rare 29-year-old rookie is a legit All-Star candidate with a 0.99 ERA. 

4) Texas Rangers (44-27; LW 2) 
Josh Jung has been worth nearly two wins this year, and his 14 home runs are the most for any American League rookie. Among all major-league rookies, it trails only the next guy on this list. 

5) Arizona Diamondbacks (43-29; LW 5) 
The early favorite for National League Rookie of the Year, Carroll leads all qualified MLB rookies in homers (15), doubles (19), slugging percentage (.592) and OPS (.979) while batting over .300 and stealing 19 bases. His 3.4 fWAR leads ALL major-league players, demonstrating how much he’s meant to Arizona’s brilliant start. 

6) Los Angeles Angels (41-33; LW 11) 
Logan O’Hoppe looked like one of the best rookies in baseball until a labrum tear sidelined him after 16 games. Since then, Zach Neto has been the standout rookie in Anaheim after getting the call-up directly from Double-A. But the Angels got more tough news there, too, as the 22-year-old standout injured his oblique this past week.

7) Miami Marlins (41-31; LW 10) 
One of the top pitching prospects in baseball, 20-year-old Eury Peréz also got the call-up directly from Double-A and has not looked overmatched, tallying a 1.80 ERA after seven starts. The only question is how many innings Peréz will pitch this year. He hasn’t thrown more than 78 innings in a professional season. 

8) San Francisco Giants  (39-32; LW 13) 
Two years after taking catcher Joey Bart in the first round, the Giants snagged another catcher with their top pick. That player, Bailey, has been arguably the best rookie catcher in baseball since getting called up last month. He has an .869 OPS, hitting better in 22 MLB games this year than he did last year at Single-A. 

9) New York Yankees (39-33; LW 6) 
The Yankees hoped that 22-year-old Anthony Volpe would be their rookie standout when they made him their Opening Day shortstop. Instead, their best rookie this season has been reliever Ian Hamilton — at least when healthy. Hamilton had a 1.23 ERA in 16 games, allowing no runs in his last nine appearances, before going to the injured list with a groin strain on May 17. 

10) Los Angeles Dodgers (39-33; LW 9) 
After breaking out early, James Outman's season has tapered off. Instead, the Dodgers' best rookie right now looks like Bobby Miller. The hard-throwing right-hander had a 0.78 ERA through his first four starts before suffering his first hiccup as a major-leaguer his last time out. 

11) Philadelphia Phillies (38-34; LW 15) 
The Phillies have had very limited rookie production. Dalton Guthrie is the only offensive rookie to log an at-bat, and he's 4-for-24. Reliever Luis Ortiz — who still has rookie status despite debuting five years ago — has probably, narrowly, been their best rookie with a 3.46 ERA in nine appearances. 

12) Toronto Blue Jays (39-34; LW 8) 
There haven’t been many rookie contributors this year in Toronto, but many that will change with Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz, who got a hit in his first big-league at-bat Sunday. 

13) Houston Astros  (39-33; LW 7) 
Hunter Brown has made the loss of Justin Verlander more bearable in Houston. The 24-year-old is currently the most valuable rookie pitcher in baseball, posting a 3.35 ERA with 83 strikeouts in 75.1 innings. 

14) Cincinnati Reds (37-35; LW 21) 
So many choices! McLain leads all qualified rookies in batting average. Steer leads all qualified NL rookies in RBI. De La Cruz has the highest hard-hit rate percentage on the team and already has six steals in 11 games. But until Abbott allows a run — he hasn’t yet in 17.2 innings — it’s hard to pick anyone else here. 

Elly De La Cruz's best moments from his MLB debut with the Reds

15) Milwaukee Brewers (37-34; LW 14) 
Joey Wiemer’s .692 OPS doesn’t tell the full story of the value he’s providing the Brewers. He's been worth more than one win because of his work in center field, where his seven outs above average are tied for the major-league lead among all outfielders. 

16)  Boston Red Sox (37-35; LW 16) 
Masataka Yoshida is not just the best rookie hitter on the Red Sox — he has been their best hitter, period, leading all qualified Boston batters in average (.308), on-base percentage (.381) and OPS (.864). He has nearly as many walks (25) as strikeouts (28) in his first MLB season. 

17) San Diego Padres (35-36; LW 18) 
You might not know the name Tom Cosgrove, but the 2017 seventh-round pick has been one of the best pitchers in the Padres’ bullpen. Cosgrove went 14 appearances before allowing his first run on June 11. 

18) Seattle Mariners (35-35; LW 20) 
After looking nearly unhittable through his first five starts, Bryce Miller ran into some trouble in back-to-back outings before getting back on track. Miller has gone at least six innings while allowing one or no runs in six of his nine MLB starts. 

19) Minnesota Twins  (36-36; LW 17) 
Edouard Julien has bounced up and down this year, but he has been on fire since getting called back up on June 10. The 24-year-old second baseman now sports an .825 OPS. 

20) Pittsburgh Pirates (34-36; LW 12)  
Ji Hwan Bae hasn’t hit quite the way he did in 10 games last year, but his 20 stolen bases lead all NL rookies. 

21) Chicago Cubs (33-38; LW 24) 
There were more highly-touted rookies in Wrigleyville this year, but none have brought more production than Miguel Amaya. The 24-year-old Panamanian catcher has a .788 OPS through 15 MLB games. 

22) New York Mets (33-38; LW 22) 
In a year when little has gone right, the Mets have the rookie pitcher with the most strikeouts in baseball in Kodai Senga. He gets just a slight edge over Francisco Álvarez, whose 12 homers trail only Carroll and Jung for the most among MLB rookies. Alvarez has also looked better than advertised behind the plate defensively. 

23) Cleveland Guardians (33-38; LW 19) 
Logan Allen (3-2, 3.95 ERA) and Tanner Bibee (3-2, 4.05) have posted nearly identical numbers through 10 starts. 

24) Detroit Tigers (30-40; LW 27) 
Tyler Holton simply does not get hit hard. Guided by his changeup, the 2018 ninth-round pick has a 2.09 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 22 appearances. 

25) Chicago White Sox (31-42; LW 23) 
Gregory Santos has been the best rookie pitcher on the White Sox staff. The 23-year-old reliever has a sinker that averages 99 mph, but it’s his slider that grades out the nastiest in baseball by  FanGraphs.

26) St. Louis Cardinals (29-43; LW 25) 
Jordan Walker is on fire in June (.327/.417/.615), looking every bit like one of the top prospects in the sport. The 21-year-old outfielder has an .850 OPS on the year that trails only Paul Goldschmidt (.874) for the best mark on the Cardinals roster. 

Cardinals top prospect Jordan Walker hits first career home run

27) Colorado Rockies (29-45; LW 28) 
Ezequiel Tovar is looking more and more comfortable as his rookie season continues. The 21-year-old Venezuelan shortstop is slashing .315/.342/.491 over the past 30 days. 

28) Washington Nationals (27-43; LW 26) 
For as many young players there are on the Nationals’ roster, there are very few rookie contributors. The best has been Jake Irvin, but it’s still been tough sledding for the 2018 fourth-rounder, who has a 5.25 ERA and 1.61 WHIP through eight starts. 

29)  Oakland Athletics (19-55; LW 30) 
Ryan Noda, Mason Miller, Esteury Ruiz give the A’s their best hope for the future. Noda, a Rule 5 pick taken from the Dodgers, could find himself in the All-Star conversation with an .819 OPS in his first season in Oakland. 

30) Kansas City Royals (19-52; LW 29) 
Maikel Garcia has been one of the best defensive infielders in baseball this year. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to stop the Royals’ freefall. They’ve now dropped 14 of their past 16 games. 

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and NL West for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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Rowan Kavner