Mountcastle rookie/prospect eligibility tracker

[MurphDogg]

We are coming down to the wire as to whether Ryan Mountcastle will maintain rookie/prospect eligibility for next season. I know it doesn't actually matter and Austin Hays' much ballyhooed 2020 rookie of the year campaign never took off, but I am still starting this thread to track it!

In order to qualify as a rookie (and appear on prospect lists), a player must have fewer than 130 at-bats (not plate appearances) and fewer than 45 pre-September days on the roster.

Mountcastle enters play today with 83 at-bats. There are 11 games left in the season so he needs to average fewer than 4.28 at-bats per game for the rest of the season.

It seems highly likely he will be able to manage this. He is averaging fewer than 4 at-bats a game. And between today's 7-inning double header and the new extra innings rule it seems fairly unlikely he will threaten 130 at-bats unless he stops walking entirely.

Stay tuned to this thread for daily updates!

[Can_of_corn]

It isn't about RoY, it is about the end of season prospect lists.

 

[Jammer7]

5 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

It isn't about RoY, it is about the end of season prospect lists.

 

Well, the lists and organizational rankings do give us something optimistic to talk about over the Winter. I do want to see where the media lists rank him after a good showing. 

[Moose Milligan]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

It isn't about RoY, it is about the end of season prospect lists.

 

Oh, it's about a RoY campaign for 2021, I'm all in.  And wildcard will get to remain calm (if he can) about maintaining a top 10 system.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Oh, it's about a RoY campaign for 2021, I'm all in.  And wildcard will get to remain calm (if he can) about maintaining a top 10 system.

I think 2021 is going to be a wander-full season.

[MurphDogg]

2 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Oh, it's about a RoY campaign for 2021, I'm all in.  And wildcard will get to remain calm (if he can) about maintaining a top 10 system.

A couple more good starts and Keegan Akin or Dean Kremer could find themselves (meaninglessly) on the back end of an offseason top 100 prospect list or two.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Jammer7 said:

Well, the lists and organizational rankings do give us something optimistic to talk about over the Winter. I do want to see where the media lists rank him after a good showing. 

Probably not as high as we'd expect because he's an Oriole and there wasn't a lot of hype around him before the season. 

 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I think 2021 is going to be a wander-full season.

Well, he'll certainly be one to watch next year, I'm assuming he gets promoted.  

Not gonna lie, I love seeing guys like that fall flat on their face though and prove the writers wrong.  Last year they were practically ready to hand the RoY trophy to Vlad Jr. before the season started and he's done nothing to back up any of the hype.  Mountcastle has over half the career WAR Vlad Jr. has so far in his career with 560 less at bats.  

Now Vlad Jr. is still young but it'd be great to see Mountcastle live up to Vlad Jr's offensive potential despite not having any of the hype.

[DrungoHazewood]

31 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

We are coming down to the wire as to whether Ryan Mountcastle will maintain rookie/prospect eligibility for next season. I know it doesn't actually matter and Austin Hays' much ballyhooed 2020 rookie of the year campaign never took off, but I am still starting this thread to track it!

In order to qualify as a rookie (and appear on prospect lists), a player must have fewer than 130 at-bats (not plate appearances) and fewer than 45 pre-September days on the roster.

Mountcastle enters play today with 83 at-bats. There are 11 games left in the season so he needs to average fewer than 4.28 at-bats per game for the rest of the season.

It seems highly likely he will be able to manage this. He is averaging fewer than 4 at-bats a game. And between today's 7-inning double header and the new extra innings rule it seems fairly unlikely he will threaten 130 at-bats unless he stops walking entirely.

Stay tuned to this thread for daily updates!

I want to see him named 2020 Oriole Most Valuable Player (MVP), and then next year win the AL Rookie of the Year (ROY).  Yes I'm spelling out acronyms because I chastised @interloper for his use of indecipherable acronyms earlier today. I plan on posting at least for a while like I've had my tech editor review everything.

Also, I need to go run a query for best seasons by someone who was still eligible for the ROY the next year.

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I want to see him named 2020 Oriole Most Valuable Player (MVP), and then next year win the AL Rookie of the Year (ROY).  Yes I'm spelling out acronyms because I chastised @interloper for his use of indecipherable acronyms earlier today. I plan on posting at least for a while like I've had my tech editor review everything.

Also, I need to go run a query for best seasons by someone who was still eligible for the ROY the next year.

I'd wait for Sixto's season to finish.

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Also, I need to go run a query for best seasons by someone who was still eligible for the ROY the next year.

I’d be curious to know what you find.   

[DrungoHazewood]

So... some of the best years by someone who appears to have still been a rookie by modern standards the next year:

Gregg Jeffries had a .961 OPS in 29 games in '88, finished 6th in the ROY voting, then played not nearly as well but finished 3rd in the '89 ROY.

Steve Lombardozzi (recent O's player's Dad) had a .908 OPS, worth 1.7 wins in 28 games in '85.  Then was really mediocre the rest of his career.

Corey Seager had a .986 OPS in 27 games in '15, then won the ROY and was 3rd in the MVP the next year.

Joe Mauer had a .308/.369/570 line in 35 games in '04, but was less good in his real rookie season in '05.

Dwayne Hosey broke in at 28 with a 1.026 OPS for the Red Sox in 24 games in September '95.  He'd play 28 more major league games in his life, but had some success in Japan and indy leagues.

Joe Jackson played five games in each of 1908 and 1909, then in 20 games in '10 he hit .387/.446/.587, which was actually worse than what he'd hit in what we'd probably consider his 1911 rookie year (.408/.468/.590).

Butch "Warm Front" Davis hit .344 in 33 games for the Royals in '83.  The rest of his MLB career, including a brief stint on the Orioles, was .205/.243/.332.

And no list would be complete without The Magnificent Lew Ford, who hit .329/.402/.575 in 34 games for the '03 Twins, before getting a tiny bit of down-ballot MVP support (but no ROY votes) in '04.

[DrungoHazewood]

Also:

Craig Wilson started his MLB career with the White Sox going 22-for-47 (.468), with a 1.256 OPS.  His career lasted another 126 games with a .624 OPS.

Shane Spencer famously broke in with the Yanks hitting .373/.411/.910 with 10 homers in 27 games in '98.  1.321 OPS.  He'd never again have an .800 OPS nor play more than 119 games in any MLB season.

Bill Madlock hit .351 in 77 at bats in '73, then finished '74 3rd in the ROY.

Geovany Soto had cups of coffee in '05 and '06, then in 60 at bats in '07 he had an 1.100 OPS.  Then was ROY in '08.  And was never really the same afterwards.

[DrungoHazewood]

JD Drew had an interesting start to his career where he tried to avoid the draft by playing for the independent St. Paul Saints, where he had an 1.110 OPS.  Then in his first MLB stint the next year he hit .417 with a 1.436 OPS in 14 games for the Cards.

Fred Lynn had maybe the greatest start to any career, ever.  In 15 games in '74 he hit .419/.490/.698.  Then of course was MVP and ROY with a .967 OPS in '75.

Stan Musial hit .426 as a 20 year old in '41, in 12 games. Then got MVP votes in each of his next 16 seasons, and 18 of the next 20..

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

Probably not as high as we'd expect because he's an Oriole and there wasn't a lot of hype around him before the season. 

 

I don’t care where Akin ranks on the prospect lists. Those are all about potential. If he keeps pitching like he has been, we will see the potential being realized where it counts, and that’s the important thing.