![]() ^ Back to Top ^ © 2023 ESPN Internet Ventures. 286 with an 1.121 OPS in April and followed it with a. Harper hit nine HR in April last season and 15 the rest of the season, and that wasn’t the only rate that fell off. 418 batting average and is second with a 1.358 OPS.īut April wasn’t the issue last year, either. Harper is off to a good start this season - one that indicates he may be on track to have a season more like his 2015 performance than his 2016. With just 1.6 WAR in 2016, Harper posted the largest WAR drop off of any position player ever in his reigning MVP season, losing 8.3 WAR from his total in 2015. Harper won the 2012 Rookie of the Year award and the NL MVP in 2015 - the youngest player to win MVP unanimously - but then had a vastly different 2016. Harper’s journey hasn’t been as consistent as Trout’s. The only other player to finish top-2 in MVP voting in five straight seasons, since the Baseball Writers' Association of America began voting on awards in 1931, was Barry Bonds in 2000 to 2004. ![]() Trout has finished top-2 in MVP voting in each of his five full seasons in the majors. The last player to do that in either league was Babe Ruth, who did so in six straight seasons from 1926 to 1931. Trout led the AL in WAR in each of the past five seasons. The next-most WAR accumulated belongs to Clayton Kershaw (35.7). Trout’s 49.6 WAR since 2012 is the most in the majors in that span. Trout has accumulated a total of 50.3 WAR in his career, while Harper is at 23.4. They posted two of the four highest wins above replacement totals in a position player’s age-22 season or younger.Įach has won at least one MVP in addition to the Rookie of the Year honors, but there’s a clear difference in WAR total between the two. Both got off to fast starts at young ages. The two went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in their respective leagues that season. He went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI at the Dodgers, in a Stephen Strasburg start. 324 BA.īryce Harper, the 2015 National League MVP, debuted on this date in 2012 for the Washington Nationals at age 19. Trout went hitless that day and recorded just one hit in three April games, but picked up the pace in May, with 5 HR, 15 RBI and a. 403 in 20 games there to start the season, Trout was called up to the majors by the Los Angeles Angels for good on April 28. Mike Trout, the American League MVP in 20, played in 40 games in 2011, but began the 2012 season with Triple-A Salt Lake. On April 28, 2012, two of the best players in baseball officially reached the major leagues for good. More recent vintage seasons that look like they have had two very successful players win Rookie of the Year included 2006 (Justin Verlander and Hanley Ramirez) and 2007 (Dustin Pedroia and Ryan Braun).You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĪpril 28 is Mike Trout and Bryce Harper day There are 14 former Rookie of the Year winners in the Hall of Fame, and there are three years in which both Rookie of the Year winners eventually were enshrined in Cooperstown - 1956 (Luis Aparicio and Frank Robinson), 1967 (Rod Carew and Tom Seaver) and 1977 (Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson), plus another that at this point looks like it will join those three great years for rookies in 2001 (Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols). Those, however, are just the single-season WAR numbers, which is all we really have to judge either Trout or Harper at this point. *In the event of a tie, the better WAR among the two tied players was used Here are the top 10 Rookie of the Year combos:ī wins above replacement used Harper's 5.0 WAR was the best among National League rookies, bettering second-place finisher Wade Miley (3.2) and third-place Todd Frazier (1.9). Trout's 10.7 WAR (the version) was one of the best seasons in baseball history, so it's no surprise he and Harper combined for the best total WAR for a pair of Rookie of the Year winners in baseball history. Both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper delivered, and they did so in historic fashion.Īlthough WAR certainly has its detractors, and there's a difference between WAR for hitters and pitchers, it's not exactly apples and oranges, more like grapefruit and oranges - they're both citrus fruits. This year, though, there may be even more, because we saw one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time and the debut of perhaps the most hyped prospect of all time. Although the voting is done on what a rookie did that season and not what he's expected to become, there's always some optimism toward the Rookie of the Year, whether it's Bob Hamelin or Albert Pujols. It's not exactly uncommon to be excited about the future when the Rookie of the Year winners are announced - it's part of their charm. Mike Trout and Bryce Harper won Rookie of the Year in their respective leagues.
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