 ANTHONY KREZA |
Kreza's made a name for himself knocking around great pitching. The first hit of his career was a 105' monster single to deep RCF at the Coffee Grounds off Scott Kujawa. He followed that up Week 2 with a game-winning RBI against Chandler Phillips (CJ's only loss of the season). The big hits may have culminated Week 7 when he jacked 2 HR off Stephen Farkas at the Holy Grounds. If RotY were the MVR (most-valuable rookie), then Kreza would likely take that in a landslide, as it'd be hard to make the case that any other rookie has played a bigger role on his team.
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| GP 14 |
PA 84 |
AVG .222 |
OBP .333 |
SLG .361 |
HR 3 |
RBI 11 |
 KYLE SCHULTZ |
Schultz's biggest edge in the RotY race is that he's the only (real) pitcher among his peers. His numbers on the mound may not be world-beating, but they aren't bad at all. He is currently top 10 in the league among leaderboard eligible pitchers in ERA (3.12), WHIP and K/BB ratio. At the plate, he's sitting pretty with the league's third best OBP among full-time players. He may have the fewest HR of the rookie class (2), but he is batting a very respectable .241, that's 40 points above the league average, in his debut season.
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| GP 10 |
PA 81 |
AVG .241 |
OBP .494 |
SLG .370 |
WHIP 1.52 |
K/BB 2.5 |
 BRENDUN DEER |
Deer came into the game like many new wifflers do: with a sharp learning curve. He struggled in his early appearances before starting to hit the ball hard in the Week 4 series with the Islanders. Then, returning to the field in Week 8, he was finally able to get that first-hit monkey off his back — and did so in big-time fashion when he belted 3 home runs in a game against the Squirrels for his first 3 career hits. The RotY probably isn't in the cards for Deer, but he's definitely growing into the game as the season progresses.
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| GP 8 |
PA 81 |
AVG .048 |
OBP .272 |
SLG .194 |
HR 3 |
RBI 11 |
 JUSTIN SMITH |
Justin "Cheeks" Smith signed with the Squirrels when they were 3-7. Since Cheeks joined the roster, the Squirrels have gone 8-6 and are in the thick of the playoff hunt. He may not be solely responsible for the turnaround, but that correlation has to count for something. Justin leads rookies in SLG, and is third overall in the league. He leads the league at 3.1 PA/RBI, and at 9.0 is number four in AB/HR. His late start and the Squirrels' front-heavy schedule puts him a bit behind Mark Phillips' stolen 8 ball, but if he can make noise over the last 4 games, Cheeks will have a place in the RotY discussion.
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| GP 8 |
PA 44 |
AVG .278 |
OBP .409 |
SLG .693 |
HR 4 |
RBI 14 |
 STEPHEN VILLARREAL |
Lil Vill (brother of the Isles' Michael Villarreal) hasn't seen much action this year. But he's reached base at least twice in every game he's played, and has one BIG game on his resume: a 7-hit fiesta including 2 HR, 2 2B, and 5 RBI. That performance accounts for all but 1 of Stephen's H and RBI, and catapulted him up leaderboards. He now leads rookies in AVG and OPS (1.109), but is only halfway to the 60 PA needed for awards consideration. The Cox still have one-third of their season remaining on the schedule, though, so he should have the chance to get there and throw his hat in the ring.
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| GP 5 |
PA 32 |
AVG .320 |
OBP .469 |
SLG .640 |
HR 2 |
RBI 6 |
