Chasing The Storm 2038-6 Rookie Of The Year
Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 10:03 am
As the Storm have wrapped up their regular season, and are now fighting for their playoff lives against Edmonton, it's time to take a look back at Seattle's season and hand out some awards. First, let's take a look at the young players, and figure out who Seattle's rookie of the year should be.
At first glance, this seems like an easy call. Vincent Vanderhugen came up to the big leagues and provided an immediate jolt to Seattle's offense, and he never really stopped hitting. On the season, in 112 games, the 21 year old posted a team-leading .934 OPS with a .555 OPS which also led the team. Seattle, which had been stagnating at around .500 when he was called up, seemed to turn a corner when he arrived and they are still in the playoffs thanks to him. So, this seems like an easy question, right? Not quite. While Vanderhugen is a fantastic hitter, he's a bit of a disaster in the field. In his defense, he's not a natural first baseman, and he's playing an unfamiliar position to try and help the team. Still, it's difficult to overlook his 17 errors at first base and his -8.8 Zone Rating, which had the effect of lowering his overall WAR to 2.0. Maybe next year, for his sake and the team's, he won't have to play first anymore.
While Vanderhugen's prodigious offense got him most of the headlines, Seattle's rookie of the year succeeded in relative anonymity. When he was called up to the majors, Francisco Salazar did not receive the same hype as Vanderhugen. However, Salazar immediately performed at a very high level. In only 96 games Salazar posted an OPS of .841 and walked almost as many times (43) as he struck out (47). What makes Salazar's performance even more impressive, however, is that Salazar did all of this while playing the game's most demanding position: catcher. The fact that Salazar was able to immediately step in to handle the pitching staff while producing excellent offense is reflected in his 2.6 WAR, and his contributions are why he's Seattle's rookie of the year. While some might disagree about the final rankings, there can be no disagreement that Seattle fans have a lot to look forward to over the next few seasons as both Salazar and Vanderhugen continue to blossom.
At first glance, this seems like an easy call. Vincent Vanderhugen came up to the big leagues and provided an immediate jolt to Seattle's offense, and he never really stopped hitting. On the season, in 112 games, the 21 year old posted a team-leading .934 OPS with a .555 OPS which also led the team. Seattle, which had been stagnating at around .500 when he was called up, seemed to turn a corner when he arrived and they are still in the playoffs thanks to him. So, this seems like an easy question, right? Not quite. While Vanderhugen is a fantastic hitter, he's a bit of a disaster in the field. In his defense, he's not a natural first baseman, and he's playing an unfamiliar position to try and help the team. Still, it's difficult to overlook his 17 errors at first base and his -8.8 Zone Rating, which had the effect of lowering his overall WAR to 2.0. Maybe next year, for his sake and the team's, he won't have to play first anymore.
While Vanderhugen's prodigious offense got him most of the headlines, Seattle's rookie of the year succeeded in relative anonymity. When he was called up to the majors, Francisco Salazar did not receive the same hype as Vanderhugen. However, Salazar immediately performed at a very high level. In only 96 games Salazar posted an OPS of .841 and walked almost as many times (43) as he struck out (47). What makes Salazar's performance even more impressive, however, is that Salazar did all of this while playing the game's most demanding position: catcher. The fact that Salazar was able to immediately step in to handle the pitching staff while producing excellent offense is reflected in his 2.6 WAR, and his contributions are why he's Seattle's rookie of the year. While some might disagree about the final rankings, there can be no disagreement that Seattle fans have a lot to look forward to over the next few seasons as both Salazar and Vanderhugen continue to blossom.