Nearly definitely, De La Cruz will coast to a Rookie of the 12 months award. And whereas he seems like he’s going to be a perennial star, there have been many gamers who had excellent first seasons and never came close to repeating them. Let’s check out some current examples:
Chris Coghlan
Coghlan made his debut for the Marlins at first of the
2009 season, nevertheless it was after the All-Star break when he actually broke out. He
batted .372 within the second half and was the primary rookie to have greater than 40
hits in back-to-back months, which led to ROY {hardware}. However, all of it got here
crashing down the next yr. After an exuberant celebration following a
walk-off win, Coghlan severely broken his knee, and his profession was by no means the
identical.
Geovany Soto
In 2008, Soto had Cubs followers considering that their 100-year
World Collection drought would possibly quickly be over. He completed the yr batting .285,
with 23 dwelling runs and 86 RBI. Not solely did he win ROY, however he completed thirteenth in
MVP voting. Whereas Soto would play one other 9 years, he would by no means strategy
these dwelling run or RBI stats, and when the Cubs lastly did win the championship
in 2016, he was lengthy gone from Chicago.
Angel Berroa
After hitting .287 with 17 dwelling runs, 73 RBI and 21 stolen
bases in 2003, Berroa took dwelling the AL ROY award, and his future appeared
vivid. Whereas he didn’t precisely crash and burn after that season, he would
by no means once more get wherever close to these numbers. Plus, he led the American League
in errors in three straight years.
Bob Hamelin
It regarded as if the Royals had an ideal alternative for
the just-retired George Brett when Hamelin made his debut in 1994. Throughout this
strike-shortened season, he hit .282 with 24 dwelling runs and simply beat out
Manny Ramirez for ROY. Sadly, on account of accidents and eyesight issues, Hamelin’s
profession solely lasted one other 4 years, and his rookie marketing campaign could be by far
his finest.
Pat Listach
Of all of the gamers on this record, Listach is the one which will
fear Reds followers essentially the most. Like De La Cruz, Listach wowed along with his very
spectacular velocity; in his first season in 1992, he swiped 54 luggage. Plus, he
batted .290 and had 168 hits, which propelled him to the AL ROY. However, what
appeared like a promising future was derailed fairly shortly. Listach performed
sparingly over the following 5 seasons, due partially to accidents, and he was by no means
in a position to reclaim the glory of his first yr. By 1998, his MLB enjoying days have been
over.
De La Cruz will nearly definitely come again to Earth at some
level after a blistering begin to his profession. However for his sake — and the sake
of all baseball followers — hopefully he’ll be capable to keep away from the one-year marvel label.
