What do Ryan Braun and Buster Posey have in common? They won Rookie of the Year awards after spending a good chunk of the season in the minors. Braun was called up on May 25, 2007, and hit .324 with 34 homers and 97 RBI. Posey arrived on May 29, 2010, and hit .305 with 18 homers and 67 RBI. The point is that there's still time for highly touted prospects like Wil Myers and Jurickson Profar to make a splash this season at the major league level. In the meantime, here's our weekly look at the top five rookies (Statistics through Monday).
Stats: 5-2, 1.58 ERA, 51 K, 11 BB in 45 2/3 IP
Miller was nearly perfect in his last start, retiring the final 27 batters after allowing a leadoff single to the Rockies on May 10 in St. Louis. Pounding the strike zone with fastballs ranging from 94-97 mph, Miller threw 84 of his 113 pitches for strikes and fanned 13 (seven looking).
How special was Miller's one-hitter? Using Bill James' Game Score metric, it scored a 98, which is the highest score recorded in a nine-inning game by a Cardinals pitcher and the highest for any rookie since Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout game in 1998.
"It's definitely the best game I've thrown in my life," Miller said. "Yadi (catcher Yadier Molina) was calling a great game and they were making great plays for me. It was a start I'll remember the rest of my life."
So will a lot of Cardinals fans.
Stats: 4-2, 3.40 ERA, 51 K, 15 BB in 50 1/3 IP
Ryu isn't your typical rookie. He was a seven-time All-Star in Korea -- not Japan, as Topps might have you believe. When the Dodgers signed Ryu in the offseason, they were expecting a solid, middle-of-the-rotation starter. That's exactly what he's been through eight starts. Ryu leads all rookie pitchers in innings, quality starts and shares the strikeout lead with Miller.
Often compared to David Wells (in body type and pitching style), Ryu has been racking up strikeouts with his slider and changeup, which comes floating in at 80 mph. His K per 9 (9.12) is slightly better than staff ace Clayton Kershaw's (9.05).
On May 11, Ryu allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings in the Dodgers' 7-1 win over the Marlins. He took a three-hit shutout into the seventh before Miguel Olivo homered.
Stats: .361/.409/.639, 3 HR, 3 RBI
Back from a stint on the seven-day concussion disabled list, Gregorius picked up where he left off, homering in his first at-bat. Two nights later, he extended his season-opening hitting streak to eight games with a three-hit night. The production earned a move up to the No. 2 spot in the lineup from D-backs manager Kirk Gibson.
"He's young. It puts a little more pressure on him," Gibson said. "We'll see if he can handle it."
Even if Gregorius cools off, he's making spectacular plays in the field almost every night.
Stats: .252/.298/.532, 7 HR, 20 RBI
Gattis started the season on fire, hitting .289 with four homers and 10 RBI in his first nine games. Since then, he's hitting .221 with three homers and 10 RBI. He may not receive regular playing time moving forward, even though he still leads all rookies in homers and RBI.
With Brian McCann off the DL and back behind the plate, Gattis has started five games in left field and spent three days on the bench. During that stretch, he went 4 for 19 with three doubles and two RBI.
Gattis made an error on a line drive in his first game in the outfield. He atoned for that the next day, however, by gunning down Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips at the plate.
Stats: .299/.333/.506, 3 HR, 12 RBI
Arcia was expected to spend most of the season in Triple-A, but injuries in Minnesota changed those plans.
Arcia has been up since mid-April, but he's really heated up in May, hitting .375 (15 for 40) with one home run, five runs and five RBI. He celebrated his 22nd birthday on May 9 by hitting a triple and a two-run run homer in the Twins' 5-3 victory over the Red Sox.
"He's swinging really well," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's very confident. It's fun watching him making adjustments as the games go along. He can hit the ball a long ways."
Now we know why the Twins were able to part with both Denard Span and Ben Revere in the offseason.
