14 MLB Rookies Off To Phenomenal Starts Who Could Seriously Help Your Fantasy Team
Unless your name is Bryce Harper or Mike Trout baseball phenoms tend to hang out in the minor leagues for a while before making a splash in the bigs.
Those two players have certainly lived up to the hype and then some this year.
But lost in all that hoopla have been plenty of other rookie stars making a name for themselves all over baseball.
Despite not getting too much attention on the national level there are rookies leading surprising playoff contenders as well as young teams in the thick of rebuilding projects.
All statistics are up-to-date as of games played through June 17, 2012.
Yu Davish (Texas Rangers Starting Pitcher)
Darvish has been mostly solid for the Rangers (8-4, 6 innings per start, 9.8 K/9).
He just needs to keep his walks down.
Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals Outfielder)
Harper has been stealing headlines since getting called up in April.
Hitting .290 with 7 home runs as a 19-year-old will do that.
Kirk Nieuwenhius (New York Mets Outfielder)
The Mets have surprised everyone with their start, especially considering how scrappy they have to be to score runs.
Nieuwenhius' ability to get on base is a big reason for their success.
Wade Miley (Arizona Diamondbacks Starting Pitcher)
Arizona has scuffled most of the season.
So if it weren't for Miley becoming their best starter (7-3, 2.39 ERA) there's no telling where they would be.
Yoenis Cespedes (Oakland Athletics Outfielder)
Oakland's lineup could really use some extra punch, so getting Cespedes' monster bat back two weeks ago was huge.
Scott Diamond (Minnesota Twins Starting Pitcher)
Lefty starter Scott Diamond is one of the few (only?) bright spots on a terrible Twins team.
Diamond was inserted into the rotation very recently, but he's already picked up 5 wins and boasts a 5-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.
Jesus Montero (Seattle Mariners Catcher/DH)
Seattle is getting the better end of the blockbuster Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade so far.
Montero is hitting .270 with 8 home runs and 28 RBI.
Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels Outfielder)
Trout's impressive .324/.382/.516 slash line and 16 stolen bases are the biggest reason the Angels are back in the playoff race.
Jarrod Parker (Oakland Athletics Starting Pitcher)
Parker looks like the latest in a long line of great Oakland pitching phenoms.
Blame a lack of run support for his 3-3 record, but his 2.82 ERA and .216 batting average against show he's got all the tools.
Wei-Yin Chen (Baltimore Orioles Starting Pitcher)
The Orioles are in the playoff hunt because of improvements to their starting rotation.
Chen doesn't get much attention, but his 7-2 record and 3.36 ERA should get some of the credit.
Will Middlebrooks (Boston Red Sox Third Baseman)
Middlebrooks (.289 AVG, 6 HR, 24 RBI) is making Kevin Youkilis increasingly expendable for a Red Sox team that could really use help elsewhere.
Todd Frazier (Cincinnati Reds Third Baseman)
Cincinnati wasn't sure how things would go after third baseman Scott Rolen went on the DL.
Luckily, Frazier (.914 OPS) stepped in and the lineup hasn't skipped a beat.
Matt Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals First Baseman)
St. Louis hasn't had much trouble making up for Albert Pujols' departure.
Carpenter has certainly helped in that department, putting up a .519 slugging percentage.
Ryan Cook (Oakland Athletics Relief Pitcher)
Few outside of the Bay Area know who A's pitcher Ryan Cook is, but he's one of the best middle relievers in all of MLB.
Cook has only allowed 2 runs and 25 base runners in nearly 30 innings of work.
Now for some baseball wheeling and dealing...
These 8 guys could be suiting up for a different team any day now→
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