This century, 89 rookies have splashed onto the scene with at least 50 extra-base hits. From the start, Orioles newcomers were conspicuously absent from the assemblage, failing to post a representative until Trey Mancini delivered 54 in 2017. This decade, Baltimore’s beginners have been more of a wave rather than occasional trickle: Ryan Mountcastle reached the bar in 2021 and then just last year, Gunnar Henderson soared past it and brought the franchise its eighth Rookie of the Year Award. A ninth piece of hardware might be in the cards in 2024, as Colton Cowser has continued the extra-base hit trend, tallying 51 on his way to being one of the three AL finalists for top honors in 2024.
For each of the three finalists, Game Notes offers a nugget or two about what stands out in the statistical profile. Let’s begin with the Orioles’ 24-year-old.
Colton Cowser and his 51 extra-base hits.
~Cowser is one of 54 rookies this century to be in an age-24 or younger season and post at least 50 extra-base hits. The group consists of 10 corner outfielders (at least 60% of games in left or right field). Positionally, corner infielders and middle infielders – as two distinct groups – share the most real estate, with 15 representatives each. Focusing on just the corner outfielders who reached 50, Cowser’s 123 OPS+ is right in the middle.
2018 Ronald Acuña, Jr. has 56 XBH and a 143 OPS+ in his age-20 season
2010 Jason Heyward has 52 XBH and a 131 OPS+ in his age-20 season
2000 Lance Berkman has 50 XBH and a 130 OPS+ in his age-24 season
2019 Bryan Reynolds has 57 XBH and a 130 OPS+ in his age24 season
2024 Colton Cowser has 51 XBH and a 123 OPS+ in his age-24 season
2024 Jackson Chourio has 54 XBH and a 117 OPS+ in his age-20 season
2019 Eloy Jiménez has 51 XBH and a 116 OPS+ in his age-22 season
2021 Dylan Carson has 53 XBH and a 115 OPS+ in his age-22 season
2005 Nick Swisher has 54 XBH and a 102 OPS+ in his age-24 season
2007 Delmon Young has 51 XBH and a 91 OPS+ in his age-21 season
~Since the franchise moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season, Cowser makes for the sixth Orioles rookie to collect at least 50 extra-base hits. Two club icons headline the list.
1977 Eddie Murray collects 58 XBH and wins Rookie of the Year
1982 Cal Ripken, Jr. collects 65 XBH and wins Rookie of the Year
2017 Trey Mancini collects 54 XBH and finishes third in RotY voting
2021 Ryan Mountcastle collects 57 XBH and finishes sixth in RotY voting
2023 Gunnar Henderson collects 66 XBH and wins Rookie of the Year
2024 Colton Cowser collects 51 XBH and ?
~Since 1954, 18 Orioles rookies have qualified for the batting title. Cowser’s 123 OPS+ ties him with Eddie Murray in 1977 for the third highest. Curt Blefary posted a 139 and was named Rookie of the Year in 1965. Gunnar Henderson authored a 125 in 2023.
Austin Wells and his 2.5 bWAR.
~Baseball Reference identifies 65 rookies in the expansion era (since 1961) who amassed at least 100 games at catcher. Three of the four highest ranked by bWAR springboarded from their exceptional rookie campaigns (and Rookie of the Year Awards) all the way to the Hall of Fame: Carlton Fisk (7.3 in 1972), Mike Piazza (7.0 in 1993) and Johnny Bench (5.0 in 1968). Thurman Munson posted a 5.5 bWAR in 1970 and won the award, but the Yankees backstop doesn’t have a plaque in Cooperstown. Besides Munson, no other rookie catcher for the Yankees posted a mark as high as Wells’ 2.5. Overall, among the 65 rookies being referenced here, Wells and his 2.5 ranks 16th best.
~Looking at ALL Yankees rookie position players since 1961, Wells’ 2.5 bWAR comes in as the 14th best, in between Andy Stankiewicz’s 2.7 in 1992 and the 2.3 compiled by Hideki Matsui in 2003 and Brett Gardner in 2009. Among position players, Aaron Judge’s 8.0 in 2017 leads the franchise all-time, followed by Munson’s 5.5 in 1970. Judge’s mark comes in as the third highest in the modern era (since 1901) for position players, behind Mike Trout’s 10.5 in 2012 and Dick Allen’s 8.8 in 1964.
Luis Gil, who recorded 15 wins while surrendering 6.17 hits per nine innings.
~Gil (who was joined in the 15-win club in 2024 by Cubs rookie Shota Imanaga) is one of
44 rookie hurlers since 1961 to reach the 15-win plateau. Before this past season, it hadn’t happened since 2019, when Dakota Hudson collected 16 victories for the Cardinals. Interestingly, no 15-game winner has been named Rookie of the Year since Justin Verlander took home 17 wins and the trophy in 2006. Hudson, who finished fifth in voting in 2019, was the ninth straight 15-game winner to fall short of Rookie of the Year honors.
~In the modern era, 11 rookie pitchers have combined at least 15 wins with a hit-rate of 6.59 or below. The group is almost entirely composed of deadball era pitchers and Yankees occupy the two stingiest spots. The list, by ascending hits/9:
1910 Russ Ford 26 wins and 5.83 hits/9
2024 Luis Gil 15 wins and 6.17 hits/9
1906 Jack Pfiester* 20 wins and 6.21 hits/9
1955 Herb Score 16 wins and 6.26 hits/9
1911 Vean Gregg 23 wins and 6.33 hits/9
1909 Harry Krause 18 wins and 6.38 hits/9
1905 Ed Reulbach* 18 wins and 6.42 hits/9
1952 Joe Black 15 wins and 6.45 hits/9
1910 King Cole* 20 wins and 6.53 hits/9
1912 Jeff Tesreau 17 wins and 6.56 hits/9
1908 George McQuillan 23 wins and 6.58 hits/9
*Fun to point out that in a six-year span, three Cubs make the list
During the 2024 season, Austin Wells was Luis Gil’s catcher for 13 starts. Casting back to see when the last time a club’s battery each made the final-three in Rookie of the Year voting, one travels quite a ways: to 1981, when Boston’s Rich Gedman and Bob Ojeda finished second and third, respectively, to New York’s Dave Righetti.
*Note – for the purpose of “rookie” status, we’re relying on Baseball Reference’s usage, which utilizes current and older definitions of playing/service time. Service time data is – for players before 2009 – an estimate.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.