Year of the Rookie

♦ October 3, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

Unless something happens significantly in the postseason, the 2016 LAD season will always be known as the year of the rookie.

  • The Dodgers got an MVP type season from their rookie shortstop. Corey Seager will make the postseason roster.
  • The Dodgers got 1190 plate appearances from rookie position players
  • The Dodgers got 432 innings from rookie pitchers
  • The Dodgers got 70 starts from rookie pitchers
  • The Dodgers got a solid rotation season from their rookie starting pitcher from the Japanese professional leagues. Kenta Maeda will make the postseason roster.
  • The Dodgers used a 19-year-old in May as a starter and then turned to that rookie for fourteen more starts before the season was over. Julio Urias will make the postseason roster.
  • The Dodgers used a rookie pitcher who started the season in A ball and gave him five starts. Brock Stewart will probably not make the postseason roster but gave the Dodgers a glimpse of what the steal of the 2014 draft could do in the future.
  • The Dodger used a  rookie outfielder who sat out all of 2015, started the season in A ball, gave  him major at-bats in key games during the pennant run, and ultimately put him on the postseason roster.
  • The Dodgers used a 27 year-old-rookie as their primary go to guy against LHP in August, and he responded with 12 RBI in only 55 PA. Rob Segedin will probably not make the postseason roster but he gave Vin Scully plenty of things to quip about.
  • The Dodgers got 44 home runs from their rookie position players
  • The Dodgers got 100 league average innings from a rookie pitcher who wasn’t on the radar entering the season after having spent 2015 pitching for the first time since his Tommy John surgery that cut short his 2013 season and wiped out his 2014 season entirely. Ross Stripling should make the postseason roster.
  • The Dodgers used a 28 year-old journeyman minor league left handed rookie as their main left handed pitcher out of the bullpen after he arrived for good on Aug 6th. Grant Dayton is a lock for the postseason roster.
  • The Dodgers got fantastic work from a rookie PED violater who might have worked his way onto the postseason if not for being ineligible.

Normally the rookie lists are littered with players who were simply brought up in Sept to full out the rosters, but in the Dodgers case, most of their rookies on these lists produced when asked during the season. Micah Johnson and Austin Barnes are the only two position players who spent most of their roster time based on being a Sept callup.  On the pitching side Jose De Leon and Josh Ravin did not come up until Sept but the others were making their pitch throughout the season.

The Rookie Hitters per Baseball Reference:

Player Age PA OPS R RBI
Corey Seager 22 687 0.877 105 72
Trayce Thompson 25 262 0.738 31 32
Andrew Toles 24 115 0.87 19 16
Rob Segedin 27 83 0.671 9 12
Austin Barnes 26 37 0.458 3 2
Micah Johnson 25 6 0.333 1 0
Player H 2B 3B HR BB SO
Corey Seager 193 40 5 26 54 133
Trayce Thompson 53 11 0 13 26 66
Andrew Toles 33 9 1 3 8 25
Rob Segedin 17 2 1 2 6 22
Austin Barnes 5 1 0 0 5 9
Micah Johnson 1 0 0 0 0 1
Player BA OBP SLG OPS
Corey Seager 0.308 0.365 0.512 0.877
Trayce Thompson 0.225 0.302 0.436 0.738
Andrew Toles 0.314 0.365 0.505 0.87
Rob Segedin 0.233 0.301 0.37 0.671
Austin Barnes 0.156 0.27 0.188 0.458
Micah Johnson 0.167 0.167 0.167 0.333

The Rookie Pitchers per Baseball Reference:

Player Age OPS+ IP W GS G
Kenta Maeda 28 82 175.2 16 32 32
Ross Stripling 26 97 100 5 14 22
Julio Urias 19 104 77 5 15 18
Brock Stewart 24 137 28 2 5 7
Grant Dayton 28 38 26.1 0 0 25
Jose De Leon 23 155 17 2 4 4
Josh Ravin 28 11 9.2 0 0 10
Player H ER BB SO ERA FIP ERA+
Kenta Maeda 150 68 50 179 3.48 3.58 112
Ross Stripling 96 44 30 74 3.96 3.9 98
Julio Urias 81 29 31 84 3.39 3.17 115
Brock Stewart 33 18 12 25 5.79 5.9 68
Grant Dayton 14 6 6 39 2.05 2.96 192
Jose De Leon 19 12 7 15 6.35 6.97 62
Josh Ravin 2 1 4 13 0.93 3.04 434

 

 

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