Never before has baseball seen a
group of rookies like the Class of 2015, one so rich in position
players that with two months left in the season it’s on the verge of
being more productive than every previous class in history. The Year of
the Rookie is a real thing, though perhaps its designation is missing a
word, because it’s really more the Year of the Hitting Rookie.
Sometime this week, everyday
rookies are going to surpass every class from the last 100 years in Wins
Above Replacement. Even if it is a flawed metric, this year’s group of
rookies reigning supreme with a third of the season remaining speaks to
just how much talent suffuses it – and how teams are relying on rookie
position players more than anytime since World War II.
This season, rookie position players have accumulated 48.8 WAR, according to FanGraphs.
Every hitter in baseball has a combined WAR of 386.8, meaning 12.61
percent of all offensive and defensive wins have come from rookies. Only
war beget a greater percentage of WAR going to rookie hitters, as
baseball struggled to fill its depleted rosters in 1943 and saw rookies
account for 13.97 percent of offensive WAR.
A look at the three Cubs rookies in this class:
Bryant 3.0 WAR
Russell 1.5 WAR
Schwarber 1.4 WAR
The three Cubs rookies have a combined 5.9 WAR, which is 12.1 percent of the rookie class WAR. Most believe that the three Cubs will get better as the season progresses.
A look at the three Cubs rookies in this class:
Bryant 3.0 WAR
Russell 1.5 WAR
Schwarber 1.4 WAR
The three Cubs rookies have a combined 5.9 WAR, which is 12.1 percent of the rookie class WAR. Most believe that the three Cubs will get better as the season progresses.
