6:02 am | September 2, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
With Shohei Ohtani returning to the mound Sunday night for the first time since an elbow injury in June, we asked Sam Miller, David Schoenfield and Bradford Doolittle to assess his season so far with the Los Angeles Angels, his Rookie of the Year candidacy and his future as a two-way player.
If the season ended today, would Ohtani be your AL Rookie of the Year? If not, who would be — and where does Ohtani rank?
Bradford Doolittle: I haven’t addressed the rookie races in my recent comments about the awards chase, using my Awards Index, but, yeah, I’ve got Ohtani as the top AL rookie. He’s got a pretty good margin over Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar. He was very good as a pitcher before he got hurt, though we’ll see if he’s at the same level from here on out beginning with Sunday’s start. And he has been very good as a hitter, as well. It’s an unprecedented combination.
Sam Miller: He’s probably second on my hypothetical ballot, just a little bit behind Torres. Hitting and pitching is obviously an incredible and unique accomplishment, but hitting and fielding is also a valuable (if more mundane) combination, and Torres’ excellent offense at premium positions pushes him ahead.
David Schoenfield: A reminder of how long the season lasts: It feels like a million years ago when Ohtani was the talk of baseball in April, so it’s easy to forget that he has still been mashing the ball even though he hasn’t pitched since early June. His overall rate of production is better than that of Andujar and Torres (and Joey Wendle, who actually leads the two Yankees in WAR) — granted, in fewer plate appearances — but he has also pitched 49 ⅓ innings at a high level. That combination gets my vote.
What does Ohtani still need to do down the stretch to seal or steal the award?
Doolittle: Just keep chugging along, while the analysts among us build the case that he has provided more value than any other rookie, even though that value has taken an unusually diverse form. Think of it like this: Using his wOBA as a hitter, and wOBA allowed as a pitcher, Ohtani has been worth a combined 22 runs above average this season. That puts him pretty much in a tie for second on the Angels behind Mike Trout. When you combine the pitches he has thrown and pitches he has seen, it adds up to the workload of an everyday player. This is why if he can stay healthy in both roles for a full season, the value he can provide is so immense. We should see a month of that combination on display in September.