While some of baseball’s most highly touted prospects, such as the Atlanta Braves’ Dansby Swanson and Washington Nationals’ Lucas Giolito, have yet to make their regular-season debuts, a slew of rookies have taken the field in 2016—to mixed results.
Some, like the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Corey Seager, have been up to the challenge, while others, like the Minnesota Twins’ Byron Buxton, have not. The wide range of outcomes is nothing new, as it sometimes takes time for players to figure out how to succeed at the game’s highest level.
As we approach the quarter-season mark, let’s take stock of the youngsters we’ve seen thus far by naming the All-Rookie team. To qualify, a player must have come into the season as rookie-eligible, which means no more than 130 career at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on a team’s active roster.
A player’s individual performance was the key factor in deciding who got a starting spot and who wound up as an honorable mention.
You’ll notice two things as we get into our squad: Some positions have far more young talent than others, and it pays for a youngster to be as versatile as possible.
Who made the cut? Let’s take a look.