Game Notes – NL Rookie of the Year Finalists

Rookies can be like Spring Training:  opportunities for optimism and rosy considerations of what could be, magnets for raising ceilings rather than lowering floors.  A rookie who is in his very first season and who is notably young can magnify this hope, personifying a launchpad for imagined awe and splendor.  And sometimes, those dreams of possibility become real:  Dwight Gooden in 1984 or Mark Fidrych in 1976; Ted Williams in 1939 or Bryce Harper in 2012.   The Senior Circuit landscape in 2024 witnessed a version of this spectacular confluence, most notably among the three finalists for the league’s Rookie of the Year Award.  

For each of the three finalists, let’s focus on a component or two – numbers that made manifest how a young, first-year player can generate electricity.  We’ll start with a dazzling 20-year-old in Milwaukee.

*Jackson Chourio*

~In the 124 seasons marking the AL-NL dynamic, 14 players in an age-20 or younger season have stolen 20+ bases.  For some name-dropping, Ty Cobb, Rickey Henderson, Mike Trout and Jackson Chourio live within the collection. 

~Over this same span and for the same age requirement, two dozen have amassed at least 20 home runs.  Here, Chourio shares space with – among others – Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, Ken Griffey, Jr., Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.  

~Introduce the two clubs to one another and three names match:  Trout in 2012, Vada Pinson in 1959 and Chourio in 2024.  The Brewers outfielder in ’24 carries one distinction that sets him apart from the other two – he produced his 20-20 season in his debut campaign, while Pinson and Trout were playing in their second seasons.

~The highest bWAR, since 1901, for any first-year position player in an age-20 or younger season:

6.7     Ted Williams in 1939

6.5     Frank Robinson in 1956

6.4     Jason Heyward in 2010

5.2     Bryce Harper in 2012

4.8     Carlos Correa in 2015

4.4     Roberto Alomar in 1988

4.2     Fernando Tatis, Jr. in 2019

3.9     Arky Vaughan in 1932

3.9     Ronald Acuña, Jr. in 2018

3.8     Jackson Chourio in 2024

~ Since 1901, for any first-year player in an age-20 or younger season:

^Chourio tallied the sixth-most extra-base hits, with his 54 nestled between Ronald Acuña, Jr.’s 56 and Eddie Mathews’ 53.  Ted Williams – with 86 – claims the most.

^Chourio amassed the fifth-most total bases.  His 245 stands directly below Ted Williams’ 344, Frank Robinson’s 319, Orlando Cepeda’s 309 and Bryce Harper’s 254.  

*Jackson Merrill*  

~Playing in his debut season, 21-year-old Jackson Merrill contributed 61 extra-base hits (31 doubles, 6 triples, 24 homers).  He’s one of 11 center fielders (at least 60% of games in center) to be in an age-21 or younger season and have that many.  As you’ll see, he’s the lone representative to have done this in his first big league campaign.