I wanted to start my blog off with a bang, so i decided to challenge myself and find who i think are the top rising stars at each position in Major League Baseball.
PITCHER
Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals- A no brainer here, this phenom seems to be all that anybody is talking about these days. The former first round draft pick, who has never won more than 13 games in a season is off to an 8-1 start with an unheard of 0.84 era, and nearly averaging double digit strikeouts per nine innings (9.7) and has yet to give up a homer in 75 innings pitched this season.
CATCHER
Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles- Made his Major League debut last night against the Yankees and despite going 0-4 this kid has a major upside. Referred to as "Joe Mauer, With Power", the 23-year old Wieters was hitting .305 with 5 bombs and 30 RBI for class AAA Norfolk before getting the call up last weekend. Wieters was also named last year's Minor League Player Of The Year.
FIRST BASE
Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds- The Canadian born second round pick made his debut on September 4, 2007 with a strikeout against Guillermo Mota, but the next night went 3-3 including his first major league home run. He hasn't looked back since. He's compiled a .310 career average with 36 bombs and 134 RBI. He's off to a .357 start this season which is good enough for second in the national league (Carlos Beltran .358) and is also tops in the league at getting on base at almost 46% of the time.
SECOND BASE
Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians- On August 11, 2007 a young undrafted free agent originally signed by the Seattle Mariners, was called on to pinch hit in the midst of 11-2 loss to the New York Yankees. On and 0-2 he drove a ball to deep Left-Center for his first major league hit. Something special for me because i just happened to be listening to the great Tom Hamilton broadcasting the game that night. Since then he's had a tough time getting started but it seems he has finally settled in at second base for the tribe. The tribes new lead off hitter is off to a .323 start with 27 RBI, including a very similar .322 average and 26 RBI with runners in scoring position. It's safe to say he has become Mr. Clutch for the Cuyahoga Kids.
SHORT STOP
Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers- Some say he's the next Omar Vizquel, which might be considered ironic because that's exactly who the Texas Rangers brought in to mentor the 20-year old short stop. Most scouts say he's not ready to be a Major League hitter. I think its safe to say he's surprised most of them posting a .277 average and driving in 9 runs for the AL West leading Rangers. The most surprising part is probably his 7 errors already this season at Short. Its clear he has some work to do but at 20 years old i think the Rangers are more than pleased with this Short Stop already.
THIRD BASE
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays- What else can be said, that hasn't already been said about Evan Longoria. Its very obvious that this kid is the real deal. He led the Rays to their first Eastern Division and American League Title's, both in the same year. Did i mention that was also his rookie year, and he won Rookie of the Year. Evan is legit. 40 bombs in 171 games. He's hitting 60 points better (.333) than he did his rookie season and he's already halfway to his home run total from last year in 1/3rd of the amount of games played. Exactly half of his major league hits have gone for extra bases. One thing he has to cut down on is the big K's as he struck out just as many times as he got hits last season. Keep an eye on this guy. He will no doubt be in Cooperstown one day.
OUTFIELD
Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks- Finally the other Upton may be starting to come around. Finally people may stop calling him B.J.'s younger brother. Lets not forget here, Justin was the Number 1 pick, B.J. was not. After not hitting over .250 in either of his first two seasons, Justin has busted out to a .337 averaged on the season and has already driven in 29 RBI in his first 46 games. So far he isn't as refined as his brother doing the little things, running the bases and roaming center field. But he's not far and lately looks like he may be closer than anybody thinks. For years to come, the Upton brothers may dominate CF in both the American and National Leagues.
OTHERS TO WATCH FOR
Matt LaPorta OF, Cleveland Indians
Rick Porcello P, Detroit Tigers
Jordan Schafer OF, Atlanta Braves
Johnny Cueto P, Cincinnati Reds
David Price P, Tampa Bay Rays
Pablo Sandoval 3B, San Francisco Giants
Denard Spann OF, Minnesota Twins
Adam Rosales INF, Cincinnati Reds
Dexter Fowler OF, Colorado Rockies
Bobby Scales INF, Chicago Cubs
