2024-02-14 04:04:33
A few days ago, Freddie Freeman recalled what was his first experience in the Major Leagues, and the Los Angeles Dodgers star openly stated: “I wasn’t very good”; In 2010 with the Atlanta Braves he played 20 games, hitting .167 in batting average, with .167 in on-base percentage and .333 in slugging percentage.
Almost a decade and a half later he analyzed the new talents: “These kids arrive now at 20, 21 years old and they are already superstars. It is incredible to see Elly de La Cruz, or Ronald (Acuña, Jr.) when it debuted. Corbin Carroll, I mean, how? It just baffles me. It seems as if they were ready for stardom much sooner. “There is a big change.”he added in statements taken from The Ahtletic.
Young players are reshaping the game. Last year, rookie hitters accumulated 68.6 WAR, the second most in historyaccording to FanGraphs (down from 75.1 in 2015). Combined with the 46.3 WAR of rookie pitchers, the combined impact on the sport is 114.9, which is also behind only 2015 (a class led by Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa) as the best of all time. There has been no recent change in the average age of hitters (27.8), and only a 6-month decline for pitchers (from 28.5 to 28), but first-year players are increasingly making their presence felt.
In 2023, 5 different position players age 22 or younger had a WAR above 4, which is generally considered All-Star caliber. In 2013, only 2 players that young, Mike Trout and Manny Machado, reached that mark. In 2003, only one: Hank Blalock.
By 2022 Julio Rodríguez, then 21 years old, made the Seattle Mariners’ Opening Day roster as their starting center fielder, was in his 1st All-Star Game 3 months later. Last year, the New York Yankees made 21-year-old Anthony Volpe their youngest shortstop since Derek Jeter. Jordan Walker became the only St. Louis Cardinals player not named Albert Pujols to record a 16-home run season at age 21 or younger.
When the Cincinnati Reds called up Elly de la Cruz in June, the 22-year-old took the RBI role. Eury Pérez joined Miami’s starting rotation from Double A, less than 1 month following turning 20 years old. Both Carroll and Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles, the consensus top 2 prospects, played key roles in their organizations’ playoffs en route to Rookie of the Year awards. They started the season at 22 and 21 years old.
“Now we have grizzled veterans like (Juan) Soto at 25 years old, right?” laughed Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. who has been in the game for more than 4 decades and who added: “When we had these old September call-up rules, you saw a lot of guys come up and just get a feel for it or see on the bench. The difference now is that guys jump into the fire and compete right away.”
Why this reality?
The proliferation of young impact players is the result of a confluence of events: The explosion of cutting-edge data and training methods, along with a change in mindset among many Major League front offices regarding player development; the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which discourages service time manipulation in addition to the tanking and rebuilding era, which means using younger, cheaper players.
Besides, when the Pittsburgh Pirates were weighing whether infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes would enter his starting roster, general manager Ben Cherington said that part of the discussion regarding the player, who debuted at 23 years old during the 2020 season, was that He needed to be on the Big Show to accelerate his growth. Some members of the Buccaneers front office They believed Hayes might improve faster if he saw major league pitches.not Triple A, every day.
According to several people interviewed by journalist Brittany Ghiroli, The jump from the Minors to the Majors, long considered the most difficult in the sport, continues to get bigger.
“Major league players are improving like never before.”and there is no other league they can go to”says Andy McKay, assistant general manager of the Mariners. “So this gap is getting bigger and bigger. And I do think that trend is here to stay.”
In addition, The rapid increase in injuries may also be a factor that explains the increase in young impact players, as teams constantly need fresh arms. Gone are the days when teams might need a dozen pitchers during a season, it is now not uncommon for a team to need between 30 and 40 arms a year, which can force them to resort to the youth ranks. There is always an adaptation period, no matter how talented a player is.
The new system, which is part of the labor agreement established in 2022, now rewards teams with extra draft picks if they promote their top prospects on Opening Day. A player who receives a full year of service time and finishes in the top 3 in Rookie of the Year voting or top 5 in MVP/Cy Young voting will earn his team an extra draft pick following the first round.
Another variable in the equation is the improvement of the conditions of the Minor Leagueswhich was a stipulation when MLB reduced the number of farm teams and was reinforced when minor league players unionized, means that even kids who don’t play for top college programs have access to more resources than their predecessors.
Finally, In the era of free agency, teams only have a limited time to win with their young players. If guys aren’t going to stay on one roster their entire career, why not bring them here and maximize what they have now, before the next wave of young players arrive?
As we see, The topic is quite broad, it can be approached from different perspectives and as for this spring we might see the sensational Venezuelan prospect Jackson Chourio make his debut in the Majors.who before setting foot at the highest level received an extension to his contract by the Milwaukee Brewers, 80 million dollars for the next 8 years, something unprecedented.
And there is not only him, Here they come Jackson Holliday of the Orioles, Paul Skenes, of the Pirates, complete seasons of the youngsters Evan Carter in Texas Rangers and Junior Caminero with Tampa Bay Rays. The wait to see baseball’s best young talent is no longer as long as it once was.
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