On Monday, the winners of the American League and National League Rookie of the Year Awards will be announced on MLB Network. You really can’t go wrong with any of the three finalists in either league, but I found myself, as I looked over the NL trio, feeling like there were many, many names missing.
That’s nothing against those three finalists: Who can argue with Paul Skenes, Jackson Chourio and Jackson Merrill? But when you really start digging into the NL rookie class, you realize just how many fantastic players were a part of it this year.
There are so many, in fact, all loaded with potential, that I actually think you can break them up into five different categories of excellence. These players are going to be the headliners of the NL for the next decade, but we’re not going to have to wait that long: I believe half of these guys, at least, are in the All-Star Game as soon as next season.
Here’s a look at just how deep the 2024 NL rookie class was.
Well, we should start with the three finalists, obviously — they certainly all deserve to be here. Skenes was so good this year that he’s also a finalist for the Cy Young, and looks like he’s going to be one for many years to come. (He also might already be one of the most marketable players in the league. It’ll be fascinating to see where he is in jersey sales this time next year.)
Chourio started the season as the youngest player in the game, debuting on Opening Day just 18 days after turning 20. But he ended it as probably the best player on a team that won its division and will be favored by many to do so again in 2025; it was thrilling to watch him improve exponentially throughout the season, and downright scary to imagine him doing so again next year. And Merrill simply became the beating heart of an outstanding Padres team that was stacked with veterans but still found itself turning to the rookie, and all his clutch hits, as one of its key leaders.
These are the standouts of this NL rookie class. But as you will see, they are just the start.
Yamamoto was, understandably, the most heavily hyped name coming into the season, after signing a record-setting 12-year, $325 million contract. But early in 2024, it was Imanaga (who signed for a relatively small $53 million guarantee) who looked like he was going to win the Cy Young. Imanaga had a 0.84 ERA in his first nine starts (with a 4-0 record), and while he obviously couldn’t keep that up all year, he really only had one bad month, the…
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