We are reaching the point of the fantasy baseball season where some teams are coming to grips with what their fates will be at the end of the season, so they are starting to see what they have in prospects. As you will see in the “Who’s Next?” section of this week’s Rookie Report, teams continue to bring up top prospects so they can get almost half a year of MLB experience and gain valuable reps with the big league club.
Injuries and setbacks have struck other teams like the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, and Cincinnati Reds and are bringing up prospects just to fill holes until their regulars are ready to go. In both situations, fantasy managers are getting long glimpses of players who could have massive fantasy implications. We should be paying attention to all of them.
This weekly piece will track some of the notable performances from rookies during the 2024 season now that we have reached the All-Star break. In dynasty and keeper formats, most of these players will be long gone, but in seasonal leagues, is it worth clogging up a roster spot with a rookie? Diving into their performance this season will hopefully help us look into a little bit of their future.
Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report: Hitters
Jackson Chourio (OF, Milwaukee Brewers)
- .243/.294/.384, 9 HR, 35 RBI, 10 SB, 41 R
His nine home runs and 10 stolen bases have been welcome statistical additions for fantasy managers, but Chourio has just not been worthy of rostering lately. His .294 OBP is 20th out of 26 qualified rookies this year.
David Hamilton (SS, Boston Red Sox)
- .274/.329/.416, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 23 SB, 34 R
Only one other rookie is even within six stolen bases of Hamilton’s 23 this year. He still has an outside shot at 40 swipes and would become the first rookie since Ichiro Suzuki (who stole 56) to steal that many bases in a season.
Heston Kjerstad (OF, Baltimore Orioles)
- .314/.417/.529, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 1 SB, 5 R
If you want to place a sneaky bet on an AL Rookie of the Year winner at long odds, might I suggest Heston Kjerstad? If he can keep up his power in the second half, there is a good chance Kjerstad (+5000) could surge past many people ahead of him with better odds.
Michael Busch (1B, Chicago Cubs)
- .271/.357/.466, 12 HR, 36 RBI, 1 SB, 46 R
At the break, Michael Busch leads all qualified rookies in OPS and walks, and is tied for first in home runs (12). With injuries to Cody Bellinger and other Cubs, Busch will continue to have a high place in the batting order every day.
Joey Ortiz (3B, Milwaukee Brewers)
- .264/.369/.432, 7 HR, 29 RBI, 5 SB, 33 R
Even dealing with injuries and long stretches of ineffectiveness, Joey Ortiz leads all qualified rookies in on-base percentage this season. His 37 walks are just two behind Michael Busch, but he also has 60 fewer strikeouts than Busch already.
Colton Cowser (OF, Baltimore Orioles)
- .219/.306/.418, 12 HR, 34 RBI, 5 SB, 33 R
Of all the rookies the Orioles have given a shot this year, Colton Cowser is the one who keeps hanging in there despite not being their top prospect. Only three rookies have played in more than Cowser’s 88 games this season.
Wenceel Pérez (OF, Detroit Tigers)
- .260/.314/.396, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 7 SB, 37 R
It’s been a bad month for Perez with only a .286 OBP and a .391 SLG% in July so far. However, only Masyn Winn and Michael Busch have more at-bats this month, so he is still out there every day for Detroit.
Jackson Merrill (SS/OF, San Diego Padres)
- .278/.310/.445, 12 HR, 46 RBI, 10 SB, 40 R
After he was absolutely on fire in June, July has not been kind to Jackson Merrill. He is hitting just .167/.186/.238 this month with no home runs and one stolen base. The All-Star Break couldn’t come at a better time for a player who looked like he was hitting the rookie wall.
Wilyer Abreu (OF, Boston Red Sox)
- .265/.328/.480, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 7 SB, 35 R
Wilyer Abreu leads all rookies in slugging percentage at .480, but it’s not just the eight home runs. Abreu leads all rookies with 20 doubles this season, so his power/speed combo has especially been valuable in points leagues this year.
Masyn Winn (SS, St. Louis Cardinals)
- .284/.332/.406, 5 HR, 33 RBI, 9 SB, 42 R
Masyn Winn leads all rookies in batting average and his .406 SLG% is top 10 as well. At 91 hits on the season, Winn trails only Jackson Merrill (92) in that category among qualified rookies.
Wyatt Langford (OF, Texas Rangers)
- .254/.318/.384, 5 HR, 40 RBI, 8 SB, 30 R
The pretty sad state of rookies in the American League can be summed up by the fact that Wyatt Langford has now passed Luis Gil as the favorite for the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Langford (+135) hasn’t seen his slugging percentage cross .400 all year, but still is predicted to win the award.
James Wood (OF, Washington Nationals)
- .245/.333/.321, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 SB, 5 R
It’s been a mixed bag for James Wood in his 14 games in MLB. He has already shown a little bit of pop and speed when playing, but he also has 20 strikeouts in 53 official at-bats.
Colt Keith (2B, Detroit Tigers)
- .253/.309/.394, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 5 SB, 36 R
The month of July has belonged to Detroit Tigers’ rookie Cole Keith. In his 13 games, he is hitting .370/.463/.804 with five home runs and a steal plus 13 RBI. Overall it’s made the seasonal numbers look acceptable, and he is on all waiver wire radars for the weeks ahead.
Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report: Pitchers
Jared Jones (SP, Pittsburgh Pirates)
- 16 Starts, 91.0 IP, 5 W, 3.56 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 98 Ks
Jared Jones’ impressive rookie season was put on hold a week ago when he was placed on the IL with a lat strain. The Pirates are hopeful it is a minor, minimum-stay type of injury and that Jones can rejoin the team sometime shortly after the extended break this week.
Shota Imanaga (SP, Chicago Cubs)
- 17 Starts, 97.0 IP, 8 W, 2.97 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 98 Ks
With his brief rough patch behind him, Shota Imanaga has been incredible once again during the month of July. In his two starts, he has a 2.25 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and 14 strikeouts in 12 innings.
Drew Thorpe (SP, Chicago White Sox)
- 6 Starts, 32.2 IP, 3 W, 3.58 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 19 Ks
Drew Thorpe is getting the results we want despite not getting the strikeouts with only 19 of them in 32 innings. His 1.04 WHIP is immaculate however, and no men on base should continue to help him get quality innings.
Mason Miller (RP, Oakland Athletics)
- 15 Saves, 39.2 IP, 1 W, 2.27 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 70 Ks
Mason Miller finally added another save to his ledger and he moved off of 14 which it seems like he had forever. He continues to blow hitters away and is very close to averaging two strikeouts per inning pitched.
Paul Skenes (SP, Pittsburgh Pirates)
- 11 Starts, 66.1 IP, 6 W, 1.90 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 89 Ks
It has been almost 30 years since a rookie started the All-Star Game (Hideo Nomo in 1995), but there is nothing on Skenes’ resume to say he doesn’t deserve it. He is the most unhittable NL pitcher right now and has shot up to -1100 to win NL Rookie of the Year.
Simeon Woods Richardson (SP, Minnesota Twins)
- 16 Starts, 82.0 IP, 3 W, 3.51 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 71 Ks
Simeon Woods Richardson continues to be the unluckiest rookie pitcher of the year. In his 16 starts, he has posted the seventh-best ERA and ninth-best WHIP among rookies and he only has three wins to show for it. The Twins refuse to score runs for this guy.
Luis Gil (SP, New York Yankees)
- 19 Starts, 102.1 IP, 10 W, 3.17 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 118 Ks
Luis Gil (+170) has now fallen behind Wyatt Langford in the race for AL Rookie of the Year. After June basically caused him to fall off a cliff, things have been looking up for Gil in July. He possesses a 3.24 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts in under 17 innings this month.
Fantasy Baseball Rookie Report: Who’s Next?
This section will look at any noteworthy rookies who have just debuted, are on the verge of debuting, or might be on their way up soon, and whether they are worth the roster position on your fantasy squads.
Rece Hinds (OF, Cincinnati Reds) – Rece Hinds was the 49th overall pick in the 2019 draft and finally debuts this year as a 23-year-old rookie outfielder. Led by a crazy .600 BABIP, Hinds has crushed in the ball in his first six games, hitting .500/.542/1.409 with five home runs, 11 RBI, and two steals in 24 plate appearances. That level of output won’t continue, of course, but this is a wonderful player to have, especially with home games at Great American Ballpark. Hinds does have 70-grade raw power so should have no problem hitting home runs during home games this year.
Cayden Wallace (3B, Washington Nationals) – Cayden Wallace was the prize the Washington Nationals got back in the deal with Kansas City that sent Hunter Harvey to the Royals. Wallace immediately becomes a top-15 prospect in their system after hitting .282/.350/.427 in Double-A this year. While we may not see Cayden Wallace get a look with the big league club until September, he is a name to stash away for a Washington team in desperate need of some offensive help.