A look at the early favorites for Rookie of the Year in the American League for the 2017 MLB season. Will the Boston Red Sox have a contender?
The Boston Red Sox didn’t have a strong candidate in the Rookie of the Year race last season, but this year should be a different story.
The 2016 season provided a fair amount of fireworks from players with rookie status in service time. AL Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer finished with an 11-7 record over 26 starts and an ERA of just over three (3.06). Fulmer also finished tenth in the Cy Young voting as a rookie.
Finishing second to Fulmer, New York Yankees backstop Gary Sanchez mashed in the small sample size he gave the American League. Although the 53 games Sanchez played eliminated him from being a rookie for the 2017 season, Sanchez was still able to amass 20 home runs, 42 runs batted in and an OPS of 1.032.
Had Sanchez been able to keep his rookie eligibility, he would have been a clear-cut favorite for rookie of the year to many voters in the American League and fans alike.
Given that Fulmer and Sanchez are no longer in their rookie seasons, I took a look at five early rookies who could receive votes following the conclusion of the 2017 season.