ROY Candidates 2029

It is that time once again to report on the top Rookie of the Year candidates. We are proud to note that who we ranked as our top candidate last year in the AL won the award, and our third highest candidate won in the NL. We were pleased at our accuracy. Maybe we will start taking bribes as to who we rank high and who we don't;) This year, however, seems to be a down year for rookies. Where some years we have had 10 good rookies competing for 5 spots, this year we struggled to find 5 in each league worth mentioning. Nonetheless, here are your top ROY candidates for 2029. Please comment on your thoughts and lets get a discussion going. (Thanks to Steve PGH for helping compile this list)

AL ROY Candidates

P Chris Short (Tigers)- Short has been a great addition to good rotation, notching a 2-2 record with a 3.66 ERA and 4 out of 6 QS.

RP Wilfredo Ledezma (Royals)- Has been awesome in relief and should be starting more after doing well in his first start in the bigs. A 1.95 ERA in 37 innings is hard to find among big leaguers, and he is a rookie.

DH Bobby Bonilla (Brewers)- Bonilla has added his bat to a solid lineup to help with some pop...and he is doing well, hitting .289 with 4 HR, 15 RBI, and 15 R so far.

RP Charlie Shaffernoth (Orioles)- In 23 IP in relief he has a 2.35 ERA and a 1-0 record. With teams always struggling to find relief pitching, having a rookie perform like this is a huge bonus.

LF Juan Encarnacion (Angels)- Not starting full time, but getting a lot of at bats, he is contributing with a .314 average, 4 HR, and 13 RBI so far this season.

Others in the running: RP Joe Blanton (Angels), RP Jim Kane (White Sox)


NL ROY Candidates

2B Rickie Weeks (Pirates)- He is hitting .299 with 23 runs and 10 SB's through 30 games. Looks like he could be a great and versitile middle infielder.

CF Kenny Lofton (Mets)- He has a pretty good batting average (.296), but he strikes out a lot (34). In 26 games, though, he has stolen 15 bases and scored 19 runs and he could be a nightmare on the basepaths if he can stable out his average.

3B Wes Helms (Cubs)- Also struggles with AVG and K's (.220 and 33 in 32 games), but has great power hitting potential. If he got hot and hit 25 or 30 homers, he could give Weeks a run for his money.

Thats about it from the NL guys. Others we looked at were Jay Bell (SD) and Luis Rivas (LA) but they don't really have a shot. NL guys, if you have a good prospect you really want to win ROY, this may be a good year to bring him up.