MLB Baseball Sports Fan Blog

The American League and National League have two players that stand out among the rest as the top rookies of the first half of the 2010 season. In a year that has been dominated by pitching, three out of the four candidates on the list are pitchers.

American League:

Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers: The Rangers moved their closer of the past, Frank Francisco, to setup man this year to make room for their rookie sensation Feliz. Feliz is flourishing in his rookie season as the Rangers closer. At the halfway point in the season, Feliz has a 3.82 ERA and has saved 23 out of 25 opportunities for the Rangers. If Feliz keeps his staggering pace up, he could be the only closer in history to have more than 40 saves in his rookie season. In the past the Rangers struggled to find a dominant closer to end games for them. This year Feliz is a big reason why the Rangers are currently in first place in their division. At the age of 22, Feliz has a good chance to be the best closer in baseball for the next two decades.

Austin Jackson, Detroit Tigers: Jackson moved to Detroit in the off-season in a trade with the Yankees who received Curtis Granderson from the Tigers. Who would have thought that Jackson would be having a better season then Granderson at the halfway point in the season? The Tigers made out on this trade more than the Yankees so far. Jackson is hitting .300, but his production is very low, only one home run and 20 RBI’s. Jackson is a singles hitter, but he also strikes out a lot. If Jackson got his strikeout total down he can be hitting closer to .330. As a rookie, he has a lot to learn, he will get better as time goes along.

National League:

Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals: The most famous of all the rookies this season is definitely Strasburg. Strasburg features a 100+ mph fastball and a devastating curveball. Strasburg is setting batters down at a record pace already striking out 61 batters in 42.2 innings. The first time batters face Strasburg they have no chance. The second time batters face Strasburg they have a slight chance of making contact. Their third time up if they are lucky, they may get a hit, but most likely they won’t. Strasburg was called up a month ago and has started seven games posting a 2.32 ERA and a 3-2 record, which would probably be better if the Nationals could actually score runs. Strasburg has the potential to be the best pitcher of all time if he could maintain this unbelievable pace, but something tells me his stuff will fade by the time he is 30. It isn’t possible to pitch the way he does for a long period of time.

Jaime Garcia, St.Louis Cardinals: Garcia is helping the Cardinals already strong pitching rotation become even stronger in his rookie year. With a top three of Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jaime Garcia, the Cardinals may have the best pitching rotation in the National League. Combined those three starters are 30-12. Garcia has the second best ERA right behind Wainwright. Garcia is 8-4 with a 2.17 ERA and 80 strikeouts. Garcia is a big reason why the Cardinals are only one game behind the first place Reds.

My Pick:

AL: Feliz has to take the award home. Feliz has a chance to break a record as a rookie this season. Jackson is doing good, but compared to what Feliz is doing, he doesn’t even come close.

NL: If the season ended today Garcia would be the rookie of the year. Since there’s a whole half a season left, Strasburg should be able to steal the award away from Garcia. Garcia may have more wins by the end, but Strasburg will probably double him in strikeouts while maintaining the same low ERA as Garcia. (mlb.com)

By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network