Year of the Rookie

Most of the hype surrounding rookies going into this season was around Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish. In addition, the emergence of Mike Trout and Yoenes Cespedes have shown that rookies can and do have huge impacts on teams that are in contention. Still, there have been other rookies that have emerged as great players with bright futures. This very well could be the “Year of the Rookie.”

Here is a look at some of the best rookies from the 2012 season:

Rizzo, along with Jeff Samardzija and Darwin Barney, is a centerpiece for the Cubs’ future plans. He could definitely be their everyday 1B for a long time to come.

I am not sure that he did enough to win the NL rookie of the year award, but the future is bright for this 19-year-old phenom. He has made the transition from behind the plate to the outfield seamlessly, and he has a plus arm out there. He could turn out to be one of the best players of his generation.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ 2012 starting rotation was the best in baseball, and Moore definitely contributed to that. It seems like Moore could take over for Shields if the Rays part ways with him in the near future.

Trout may have had the best season of any rookie in the history of baseball. His heroics were not enough to lead the Angels to the playoffs, but it would be crazy to think about where their season would have been had he not been there. The Angels definitely caught lightening in a bottle with Trout.

The Brewers season seemed to be dead in the water as early as June, but they made an amazing push to try and make the postseason and Aoki had a major impact. He is a very good leadoff hitter, and his transition from Japanese pro ball to the MLB went very well in year one.

When Votto went down with the knee injury, Frazier was one of many Reds players that stepped up his performance. I think that Frazier has done well enough to earn himself the NL Rookie of the Year award, and he seems to have a bright future ahead of him.

During preseason, if I had told you that a rookie pitcher would be the best starter for the Diamondbacks this season, you would have called me crazy. However, Miley impressed for much of the season as a lot of Arizona’s pitchers struggled.

When Billy Beane signed Cuban slugger Cespedes in the offseason, I immediately thought that he was going to be traded before midseason for prospects. Instead, he was the centerpiece of an amazing A’s team, and he was by far the best offensive threat.

It is safe to assume that Darvish probably had the most pressure on him coming into this season because of the hype and the contract that he was given. He definitely impressed as he baffled American League hitters for most of the year. He definitely projects to be the Rangers’ #1 starter in the near future.

Tweet to @MLBFanCave to let us know whom you think was the best rookie in MLB this year.