Record-Setting Rookies Lead D-backs, Rangers To 2023 World Series
Image credit: Evan Carter (Photo by Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers via Getty Images)
Rookies in the 2023 postseason already own one all-time record. By the time the World Series ends, they will hold at least one other.
Led by Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (10), D-backs right fielder Corbin Carroll (nine) and Rangers left fielder Evan Carter (eight), rookies this October have scored 46 runs, a record total for one postseason.
Factoring in players such as Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas and the Twins’ duo of third baseman Royce Lewis and second basemen Edouard Julien, rookies are on pace to break the record for plate appearances in one postseason.
That mark is currently held by the 2007 rookie crew—Dustin Pedroia, Asdrubal Cabrera, Troy Tulowitzki, Chris Young, Mark Reynolds, Jacoby Ellsbury and others—which batted 350 times in October.
This year’s rookies enter the World Series with a collective 327 PAs, and with Carter, Carroll and Jung still playing key roles for the D-backs and Rangers, they are a cinch to reach the 24 needed to set the new postseason record, potentially in the first two games.
The 2022 rookie class ranks third on the list of most postseason plate appearances with 325. That is a credit to the likes of World Series MVP Jeremy Peña, Bryson Stott, Steven Kwan, Julio Rodriguez, Michael Harris II and others.
It’s obviously no coincidence that the rookie classes from 2022 and 2023 rank so highly in terms of postseason volume. The expanded tournament bracket introduced anywhere from six to 10 additional postseason games each fall.
Even though seven of the first eight Wild Card Series to be played in the new format have been two-game sweeps, the impact on the bottom line has been that 13 additional postseason games have been played in two seasons that would not have been played between 2012 and 2021, omitting the one-off 2020 format.
And with pennant winners such as the 2023 D-backs and Rangers and 2022 Phillies originating in the Wild Card Series round of the playoffs, that means rookies on those teams—Carter, Carroll and Jung this year; Stott in 2022—extend their impact on the final tally.
As MLB teams place more trust in rookies, their prominence in October is a trend that is here to stay.
Hard-Hitting Rookies In October
Here are the top 10 most productive rookie hitter classes in the postseason, sorted by weighted runs created as displayed at FanGraphs.com. Players with leading totals are listed.
2015: 45 wRC
Jorge Soler (10), Kyle Schwarber (9), Stephen Piscotty (6), Carlos Correa (4), Kris Bryant (4), Michael Conforto (4)
2020: 44 wRC
Randy Arozarena (25), Jake Cronenworth (7), Dylan Carlson (3), Sean Murphy (3)
2007: 42 wRC
Dustin Pedroia (10), Chris Young (7), Jacoby Ellsbury (5), Justin Upton (5), Troy Tulowitzki (3)
2023: 41 wRC (and counting)
Evan Carter (10), Corbin Carroll (9), Josh Jung (8), Royce Lewis (6), Edouard Julien (5), Gunnar Henderson (4)
2005: 29 wRC
Willy Taveras (9), Chris Burke (6), Tadahito Iguchi (3), Ryan Langerhans (3), Robinson Cano (3)
2017: 29 wRC
Aaron Judge (8), Cody Bellinger (7), Austin Barnes (4), Rafael Devers (4)
2022: 27 wRC
Jeremy Peña (13), Steven Kwan (4), Julio Rodriguez (4), Bryson Stott (3)
1996: 25 wRC
Derek Jeter (12), Andruw Jones (10), Todd Hollandsworth (2)
2011: 25 wRC
Allen Craig (11), Paul Goldschmidt (6), Desmond Jennings (5)
2003: 25 wRC
Miguel Cabrera (10), Hideki Matsui (10)
2012: 25 wRC
Pete Kozma (6), Matt Carpenter (3), Yoenis Cespedes (3)
