Twins' Sano firmly among top three front-runners for AL Rookie of the Year
It's a stacked class of first years across baseball this season, and in the American League there are three front-runners for the Rookie of the Year award.
Minnesota's monster-masher Miguel Sano is one of them, but he's got stiff competition from a couple of uber-talented shortstops, Houston's Carlos Correa and Cleveland's Francisco Lindor.
Also, there's Toronto closer Roberto Osuna. In another year he would be one of the favorites. But this season it's unlikely his value trumps that of the trio of every-day players. And the two speedy center fielders, Oakland's Billy Burns and Texas' Delino DeShields, are not far behind in the race, but they are less productive and have slightly worse numbers than the top three, who are all on winning clubs, as well.
It's going to be tough for Sano to truly separate from Correa and Lindor because he's mostly a designated hitter and they both wield exceptional defensive gloves. The Twins slugger will have to really go on an offensive tear to distinguish himself, but even then, Correa currently edges him in homers and Lindor has the better average.
Nevertheless, Sano continues to produce -- he had three RBI in his last two games -- and will be listed at or near the top of numerous ballots. Let's take a closer look at the numbers that matter for the top three contenders for AL Rookie of the Year.
AL Rookie of the Year Front-Runners
| Category | Miguel Sano | Carlos Correa | Francisco Lindor |
| Games | 62 | 82 | 81 |
| At bats | 214 | 319 | 318 |
| Runs | 37 | 43 | 40 |
| Hits | 59 | 88 | 99 |
| 2B | 13 | 18 | 19 |
| HR | 16 | 18 | 8 |
| RBI | 47 | 52 | 37 |
| BB | 40 | 34 | 22 |
| SO | 96 | 66 | 53 |
| AVG | .276 | .276 | .311 |
| OBP | .389 | .346 | .353 |
| SLG | .561 | .502 | .465 |
| OPS | .950 | .848 | .818 |
| WAR | 1.9 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
| DWAR | -0.6 | 0.3 | 1.2 |
