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Francisco Lindor’s Case For AL Rookie Rookie Of The Year

By Joe Russo

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In a recent rubber match of a three-game set with the White Sox, Francisco Lindor jumpstarted the Rookie of the Year conversation with two big swings. After a triple in his first at bat, Lindor belted a home run to right field in his next at bat. He ended this night going 3-of-4 after adding a late single. But with only 76 games of action, Lindor is still making a strong case to be named AL Rookie of the Year.

Lindor has been a major boost to the Tribe offense ever since his promotion June 14. Despite a slow June which Lindor only batted .211, the 21-year-old caught fire over the next few months. He hit .295 in July, .370 in August, and .294 thus far in September and .306 for the season. Remember, Lindor replaced Jose Ramirez, who was batting a putrid .176 earlier in the year.

The Tribe’s overall performance has also improved since Lindor arrived. The Indians were at 29-33 on June 14. Since then, they’ve gone 40-37 to get to the 69-70 mark they are at today, sitting just short of the second AL Wild Card. Before the All-Star break, when Lindor had played but a handful of games, the Indians offense managed to hit only .248 with 347 hits and a .705 OPS over 88 games. Afterwards, when Lindor was a mainstay in the lineup? The offense caught fire, hitting .267 with 216 hits and a .742 OPS in only 50 games, well ahead of the first-half pace.

As for AL rookies, Lindor leads all AL rookies in hitting with a .306 mark and is third across the majors, including September call ups like Corey Seager. He’s also fifth in OPS (.799) among AL rookies and third in on-base percentage (.345). Not bad for a guy who has far fewer games played and far fewer at bats than fellow rookies Billy Burns (Oakland), Delino Deshields (Texas), and Eddie Rosario (Minnesota).

Sep 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Astros shortstop

Carlos Correa

(1) earns a walk against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

But the consensus around the league is that another young shortstop–Carlos Correa– is the leader for AL Rookie of the Year. It’s hard to argue because Correa is a major piece of a first-place team. His own stat line is impressive, but when you look at Lindor and Correa side by side, there are more similarities than differences to their game.

Lindor:  77 games, 304 AB, 38 runs, 93 hits, 17 2B, 8 HR, 34 RBI, .306 BA, .345 OBP, .454 SLG, .805 OPS

Correa: 77 games, 300 AB, 39 runs, 82 hits, 17 2B, 17 HR, 51 RBI, .273 BA, .339 OBP, .500 SLG, .839 OPS

Correa has the edge in power metrics, easily besting Lindor in home runs and slugging. But across the board, Lindor is keeping pace. In fact, Lindor exceeded Correa in his overall batting, with advantages in average, hits, and OBP. Where Lindor really seperates himself is on defense. Correa is more of a defensive prospect given his height and overall build, but Lindor’s Defensive Wins Above Replacement checks in at 1.3, compared to Correa’s barely average mark of 0.4. This more than compensates for Correa’s slight edge in OWAR, where he leads 3.1 to Lindor’s 2.5 rating.

The individual stats might be enough for Lindor to overtake Carlos Correa as the season hits the stretch run. But for now, Correa still should get the nod, as being a standout player on a winning team still has value in baseball. Plus, Correa’s power numbers aren’t just impressive for a rookie shortstop, they’re impressive–period.

When your team is comfortably in first place, you get any tiebreaker that may be out there. But if Lindor continues to hit and the Tribe continues to inch closer and closer to the playoffs and actually earn a Wild Card spot, then his case for AL Rookie of the Year would be the strongest.

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