Your power-ranked guide to the incredible rookie class of 2014

As we prepare to leave the All-Star Break, it dawned on us that people all across baseball have been calling out names that strike you as unfamiliar. Dellin. Mookie. Xander. Roenis. Brock. Rougned. Masahiro. Zelous.

Unusual as they may be, those names are now familiar because they belong to players just now experiencing increased relevance thanks to being a part of one of the deepest rookie classes in recent memory.

To help keep 'em straight as we head into the second half of 2014, we organized our Rookie Power Rankings for the (little more than) halfway mark. Without further ado ...

17. Xander Bogaerts - Don't sleep on Bogaerts. Though he went nearly 30 at-bats without a hit in late June/early July, the truth is that Bogaerts and his potential should still have Sox fans salivating. His .235 average have many questioning whether or not he's ready for the bigs, but his three consecutive three-hit games back in May suggest that once he gets off the schneid, he'll be more than a little exciting to watch.

16. Jon Singleton - The young crop of Astros players doesn't start or end with Singleton, but the first baseman they acquired from the Phillies in the Hunter Pence deal is making his presence felt. Sure, his average could use some work, but he's only been in the bigs for a month and he's managed to homer in his first Major League game and hit a grand slam just a few games later. If he can fix that average, the 'Stros are going to be an offensive powerhouse in years to come.

15. Oscar Taveras - It took all of two at-bats for Taveras to launch his first home run as a Major League ballplayer. His average is below .200, but he's only been in the bigs for 23 games (and he posted back-to-back multi-hit games this month). Cardinals fans should have their hopes up with this guy.

14. Nick Castellanos - Tigers fans have been familiar with Castellanos since he took home the MVP of the Futures Game back in 2012. The rest of the league is just now getting to know the 22-year-old infielder as he had been struggling to find his place in the organization thanks to the Tigers employing guys named Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder at the corner infield spots. After briefly flirting with left field in 2013, Castellanos ended up settling at the hot corner thanks to the Ian Kinsler/Fielder trade and Miggy's transition to first base. He's hitting .262 and more than holding his own at third.

13. Gregory Polanco - The prized Pirates prospect started his career by rattling off hits in his first 11 games. Polanco has just five extra-base hits, but kept his average above the .300 mark through his first 23 games before hitting a bit of a slump. He's still young and his tweet game is top notch, so Buccos fans have a lot to look forward to.

12. Mookie Betts - One of three Red Sox on this list, Betts hasn't even been a Major Leaguer for two weeks yet. He's already notched a hit against the Yankees and hit a homer over the Green Monster ... which happened to be caught by a kid who pitched against him in high school. Small world, y'all.

Betts with Chris Large (who caught his home run ball) and sis Lindsey. Chris once pitched against a 17 yr old Betts pic.twitter.com/YhdqLw4wn7

- Kyle Brasseur (@KyleBrasseur) July 3, 2014

11. Roenis Elias - With Felix Hernandez at the top of the Mariners rotation and Masahiro Tanaka dominating the conversation about rookie hurlers, it's easy to overlook Elias, but that doesn't mean you should. He's 7-8 in 19 starts for the M's but he has two gems under his belt: a 10-strikeout performance against the Yanks back in May and a three-hit, complete game shutout of Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers last month.

10. Zelous Wheeler - Wheeler homered in his debut and is 5-for-19 in his first few handfuls of Major League at-bats. He also has this wonderful catch that didn't count: 

9. Rougned Odor - Odor's presence in the Rangers system obviously had something to do with the Kinsler/Fielder swap and you can't fault them for it. The .260 average and three home runs might not be all that dazzling, but you can't knock the hustle. Plus, when you pair him with 25-year-old shortstop Elvis Andrus, the entire Rangers middle infield is only five years older than the Yankees shortstop.

8. James Jones - The numbers are there: the .287 average, the 17 steals, the four triples. But to hear Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon talk about Jones is to realize that it's not always the stat sheet that makes a young baseballer so impressive. Jones recently stopped by McClendon's office to see what he could do to improve his game. Later that day he went 4-for-5 with three steals. Yeah, we think he gets it.

7. Dellin Betances - It might seem odd to look at this list and see a pitcher with no starts and no saves to his credit, but Betances has been nothing short of rock-solid for the Yankees in 2014. The 26-year-old rookie went to high school in Brooklyn and has been earning his hometown hero status to the tune of a 1.46 ERA and 84 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings. 

6. Chris Owings - The Diamondbacks shortstop was the 2013 MVP of the Pacific Coast League, batting .330 and hitting 12 home runs and swiping 20 bags for good measure. In his first Major League season, Owings is batting a respectable .277 and has six homers to his name. But, the real impressive feat is that he leads this year's crop of rookies with five triples (REMINDER: Billy Hamilton is a rookie).

5. Billy Hamilton - This. Dude. Can. Run. He's tagging and scoring on popups and bunting into right field for singles while maintaining a .285 average and swiping 38 bags through 90 games. At 23, Hamilton has a bunch of years of getting on base and annoying the hell out of pitchers to look forward to.

4. Brock Holt - At 26, Holt is one of the older members of the 2014 crop of rookies, but his .327/.371/.463 line speaks for itself. However, those numbers don't properly demonstrate the entirety of Holt's impact since being injected into the Red Sox lineup and infield (and outfield). Timely hits and brilliance with the leather at every position but pitcher and catcher have Holt's legend growing by the day in New England.

3. George Springer - The Astros selected Springer out of UConn with their 2011 first-round pick and the wait for his Major League debut has proved well worth it. Springer has hit 19 homers in 76 games including this monstrosity that would have gone into orbit were it not for the rafters at Tropicana Field. Toward the end of May, Springer hit seven home runs over seven games while helping the 'Stros to seven straight wins. And he's been flashing the leather, too.

2. Masahiro Tanaka - The most expensive Japanese free agent to ever sign a Major League contract, Masahiro Tanaka and his nasty splitter got right to work. The first Major League batter Tanaka faced was Melky Cabrera, who homered to deep right-center. Tanaka rebounded to strike out eight batters over seven innings on the way to his first Major League win. Since then, all he did was lead all pitchers in WAR and wins through the 2014 halfway mark before a torn ligament in his throwing arm put him on the shelf until September (or maybe the middle of next season). It really is such a shame.

1. Jose Abreu - The 27-year-old Cuban slugger leads the bigs in homers and is on pace to hit 50 in his first Major League season. He set a rookie record for most home runs in a month when he clubbed 10 over the fence in April and he's already logged four multi-homer games this season. 'Member when he busted the guts out of a baseball earlier this season? Someone's tryin' to tell ya somethin', kid.