O’s rookie Trey Mancini got some good news tonight, as he was named a finalist for the BBWAA Rookie of the Year award.
.@TreyMancini has been named a BBWAA finalist for Rookie of the Year. The winner will be announced Nov. 13 on @MLBNetwork. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/J7KzbmTCT7
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) November 6, 2017
Mancini was a revelation at the dish for the Birds in 2017, putting up a .293/.338/.488 line with 24 home runs and 78 runs batted in. That was good for a .349 wOBA and 117 wRC+ (both second to only Jonathan Schoop among players who played the entire season in Baltimore), and 1.8 fWAR (2.2 bWAR).
Even in a normal season, Mancini likely wouldn’t have a particularly strong case to win the award. Let’s take a look at how his numbers compare to the previous five non-pitchers to win the AL ROY:
Of the above players, Mancini’s stats really only compare favorably to Wil Myers in 2013. As far as his WAR goes, of course, Trey is hurt a bit by the fact that he plays left field – corner outfielders are SUPPOSED to put up big offensive numbers, especially in Oriole Park at Camden Yards (which, we should note, also drags down his wRC+ a bit).
But how about his competition here in 2017? The other finalist for the award is Boston’s Andrew Benintendi. Ben Nintendo, as I call him, hit .271/.352/.424, with 20 homers and 90 driven in, good for a .332 wOBA and 103 wRC+. Ben racked up 2.2 fWAR and 2.6 bWAR, and added 20 stolen bases for good measure.
Since he plays in Boston, his slight edge in OBP and better defense than Mancini will very likely be enough to get him more first-place votes.
Hm? What’s that?
There are THREE finalists for the award?
Oh. Right.
Whatever.
Congrats on being named a finalist, Trey!
