Ranking the Top 10 Rookies of the 2024 MLB Season

All throughout the 2024 regular season, one of the top storylines in the game has been the outstanding pair of rookie classes in each league. Last year’s performances by Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson were certainly outstanding, but it feels like this year’s rookie class throughout the game is much deeper than we’ve seen in the past few seasons.

The NL Rookie of the Year race has been tight all year long as Paul Skenes and Jackson Merrill have pulled away from the competition, despite the fact that Jackson Chourio over in Milwaukee has been on a tear in the second half.

Over in the AL, things are still tight between the top two or three rookies, but there’s slightly less wow-factor than there is in the NL. One of Austin Wells and Colton Cowser feels likely to be the winner of the Rookie of the Year Award, but it’s fair to say that neither of them are on the Skenes-Merrill-Chourio level.

Point being: there’s a ridiculous amount of talent from a ton of first-year players around the game. Just because the candidates that are likely winners of the end-of-season hardware are obvious doesn’t mean that the talent pool isn’t extremely deep. It most definitely is.

Let’s take a closer look at 10 of the top rookies this year and highlight the best of the bunch. It’s no easy task to narrow down the list, especially when we’re looking at somewhere between 15 and 20 candidates to crack such a ranking.

Ranking MLB’s Top 10 Rookies of the 2024 Season

Honorable Mention: SS Masyn Winn, STL

• 2024 stats: 604 PA, 14 HR, 76 R, 51 RBI, .267/.313/.406, 101 wRC+, 11 SB, 3.1 fWAR

Appropriately nicknamed “Energizer Bunny”, Winn has impressed in his first full season. He struggled mightily in a 37-game cameo last season but has turned his game around in a big way. The 22-year-old has a legitimate case to be one of the most underrated rookies in the game, but he’s going to just barely miss the top-10 here.

While his bat is not his most notable tool, Winn’s 14 home runs have him in a tie for seventh amongst qualifying rookies and his 75 runs scored are second, just three behind Chourio. On defense, Winn is in a league of his own amongst first-year players. His 83rd percentile OAA and 95th percentile Arm Strength make him one of the strongest defenders at shortstop in the game, which helps him earn an honorable mention.

Other rookies that deserve a mention include Tyler Fitzgerald, Tobias Myers, Spencer Horwitz, Ceddanne Rafaela, Hunter Gaddis and Colt Keith. This year’s class is full of talent.

10. RHP Mason Miller, OAK

• 2024 stats: 52 G, 27 SV, 61.2 IP, 2.34 ERA, 2.15 FIP, 14.16 K/9, 3.06 BB/9, 2.3 fWAR

There aren’t many things the Oakland A’s get praise for these days, but the decision to try Miller out as a relief pitcher is one they’ll get applause for every day of the week. For a while this year, the electric right-hander was one of the most exciting rookies in all of baseball. His triple-digit heater blowing hitters away was a part of highlight reels everywhere.

Naturally, he has regressed as the season has marched on, but Miller is still in a league of his own. It’s hard enough to land on a top-10 rookies list as a reliever, but he has just been that great and needs to get in the spotlight.

You know who Miller is by now. I’ll leave you with this to gawk at:

9. OF Wilyer Abreu, BOS

• 2024 stats: 419 PA, 15 HR, 56 R, 57 RBI, .258/.322/.471, 116 wRC+, 8 SB, 3.0 fWAR

You won’t find Abreu’s name in many highlight reels, but he’s in a three-way tie for the sixth-highest fWAR amongst all qualifying rookies. He consistently goes about his business and has been one of the more consistent rookies in the league.

Entering the day, Abreu is fourth amongst rookies in BABIP and SLG, fifth in home runs and ISO and ninth in wRC+. Like Winn, his defense carries a ton of his total fWAR, but that’s just fine. Statcast has his labeled as one of the league’s best outfielders, putting him in the 92nd percentile in OAA, 91st in Arm Value and 98th in Arm Strength.

8. RHP Cade Smith, CLE

• 2024 stats: 72 G, 73.1 IP, 6-1, 1.96 ERA, 1.44 FIP, 12.27 K/9, 2.09 BB/9, 2.6 fWAR

For a while, it felt like Smith was another clear regression candidate. To his credit, he has done no such thing as we near the end of the regular season. It’s safe to say that he’s one of the biggest surprises in the game, and not just amongst rookies.

Smith gives us our second reliever in the top-10, but a look at the numbers quickly proves why he takes a spot over Miller in the rankings. Smith, 25, and his 1.96 ERA is fourth amongst all pitchers (min. 70 IP – three Guardians occupy the top-four) and his 1.44 FIP is the best in all of baseball. The second-lowest FIP belongs to Chris Sale, who sits at 2.09. That’s a pretty significant gap.

The further you look at Smith’s numbers, the more impressive his season gets. His K-BB% ratio is just 0.1 behind Garrett Crochet, who leads the league (min. 70 IP). In addition, Smith has allowed just one home run all year, good for a 0.12 HR/9, which is the best in the game by a wide margin.

7. RHP Luis Gil, NYY

• 2024 stats: 27 GS, 140.2 IP, 14-6, 3.14 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 10.30 K/9, 4.67 BB/9, 2.4 fWAR

There was a period of time where it appeared to be Gil on his way to the AL Rookie of the Year Award and not one of his teammates or division rivals. The right-hander started his season off on a great foot, especially throughout the month of May when he didn’t allow more than one run in any of his six starts.

Oh, and he also struck out 14 batters in just six innings against the White Sox on May 18. Then he punched out eight batters in his next start against the Mariners and then nine more in the next one against the Angels.

Gil fell victim to a few rough starts from then to now and also missed some time in August and September thanks to a back injury. This was enough to take him out of the running for the AL’s best rookie, but he’s still been great as a whole. A 3.14 ERA and 3.90 FIP from an oft-injured former top prospect in his first full season is a huge win for the Yankees.

6. OF Colton Cowser, BAL

• 2024 stats: 536 PA, 22 HR, 74 R, 64 RBI, .246/.325/.445, 120 wRC+, 8 SB, 3.9 fWAR

A two month slump through May and June (as well as a poor showing in August) was just enough to put Cowser below Wells in this ranking. As you’ll come to find out by reading on, it’s a tight race and it’s going to stay that way until the very end of the season.

It’s tough not to directly compare him to Wells, but he walks less, has a lower OBP, strikes out more and is going to take a slight hit because he doesn’t play a premium position like his Yankees rival does.

However, Cowser absolutely deserves some props for what he’s done this year, regardless of where we’d put him in the Rookie of the Year race. He is ranked as one of baseball’s best baserunners (86th percentile) per Statcast, barrels up the ball with the best of them (88th percentile) and is an outstanding defender (96th in OAA, 95th in Arm Strength).

He’s a part of a star-studded lineup and is at times overshadowed by the Hendersons and Rutschmans of the world, but Cowser’s been a key contributor to this playoff-bound lineup.

5. C Austin Wells, NYY

• 2024 stats: 389 PA, 13 HR, 39 R, 53 RBI, .240/.327/.413, 111 wRC+, 1 SB, 3.5 fWAR

The 2024 campaign hasn’t been non-stop smooth sailing for Wells, but he’s done an excellent job at facing adversity and coming out on top. Amongst AL rookies on the position player side, his 3.7 fWAR is just 0.4 behind Cowser, despite the fact that the former’s sample size is 37 games smaller than the latter’s.

Wells is never going to hit for average, but he draws a ton of walks (third in BB% and fifth in OBP amongst rookies, min. 350 PA) and is one of the game’s best pitch framers behind the dish, currently sitting in the 96th percentile in framing per Statcast.

At this point in the season, there’s not a real “wrong answer” between Wells or Cowser for AL Rookie of the Year, but Wells has done enough in the second half to edge Cowser out by a hair. FanGraphs’ WAR has Cowser above Wells, but that’s because of how heavily they factor defense into their equation.

Baseball Reference’s WAR has Wells at 2.9 and Cowser at 2.7. Just something to think about.

4. LHP Shota Imanaga, CHC

• 2024 stats: 28 GS, 166.1 IP, 14-3, 3.03 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 9.20 K/9, 1.52 BB/9, 2.8 fWAR

Amongst rookie starting pitchers, Imanaga is second to Skenes in nearly every single category. The left-hander started his career off with a bang, not allowing a single earned run until his fourth outing. Outside from a few ugly starts (4.1 IP, 7 ER on May 29 and 3.0 IP, 10 ER on June 21), Imanaga has been money all year long.

The 31-year-old hardly is a typical rookie, but he’s made the transition from Japan seamlessly, something players don’t always do when they make this significant mid-career adjustment. Just three starts ago, he threw the first seven innings of a combined no-hitter against the Pirates, something that isn’t frequently pulled off by a pitcher in his first year in the big leagues.

3. OF Jackson Chourio, MIL

• 2024 stats: 545 PA, 21 HR, 78 R, 77 RBI, .271/.325/.469, 118 wRC+, 21 SB, 3.7 fWAR

Prior to his big league debut, the Brewers made the extremely risky decision to sign Chourio to an eight-year contract extension that could become a 10-year pact if a pair of team options are picked up at the tail end. Things didn’t take off for him until around June, when he hit .315 with an .897 OPS. He has not looked back since and has climbed up a ranking list this by a handful of spots thanks to his red-hot play.

Since June 1, Chourio has hit .301 with a 145 wRC+, along with 16 home runs and 61 RBI. He just recently became the youngest player in MLB history to record a 20-20 season, too, which can’t be overlooked. He’s a constant threat at the plate, on the bases and in the outfield, where he’s played a mean left field on a daily basis (87th percentile OAA, 81st Arm Value).

The Brewers look smart for locking him up when they did, because that deal may end up as a bargain once all is said and done.

2. OF Jackson Merrill, SDP

• 2024 stats: 571 PA, 24 HR, 75 R, 89 RBI, .294/.327/.506, 132 wRC+, 16 SB, 5.1 fWAR

Sticking with the Jacksons, there is virtually nothing that Merrill has not done for the Padres this year. He hits for power, he steals bases, he’s one of the top run-producers in the game and he played a mean center field. The defensive aspect should not be ignored, as prior to Opening Day he had played … exactly zero innings in center in his entire professional career.

Merrill has taken to his new position nicely and become one of the game’s best at it over the course of a single season. On offense, he’s always had wheels and an above-average bat, but he’s developed additional power on the fly and has been one of baseball’s best players, not just rookies.

1. RHP Paul Skenes, PIT

• 2024 stats: 21 GS, 126.0 IP, 10-3, 2.07 ERA, 2.57 FIP, 11.29 K/9, 2.29 BB/9, 3.9 fWAR

There are no words to properly describe how outstanding it is to see Skenes dominating the game at such a young age and with such limited minor league experience. The right-hander easily tops the fWAR leaderboards amongst qualified rookie pitchers at 3.9 and is also second in the entire NL in ERA amongst starters with a minimum of 120 innings pitched this year.

It’s a common talking point, but people still forget that Skenes was only just drafted in the first round of last year’s MLB Draft. He only needed 12 minor league starts to get the promotion to the big leagues and has taken the game by force ever since. That’s a Rookie of the Year if I’ve ever seen one.

What Skenes has done at the game’s highest level is enough to put him over Merrill in such a ranking, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t close. The two young superstars-in-the-making are going to be annual All-Stars and candidates for MVPs and Cy Youngs for years to come, but there’s no denying the fact that what Skenes has done this year is more noteworthy and impressive.