Could Gary Sanchez Still Win AL Rookie of the Year?

Although his competition has a considerable head start, it’s not crazy to consider Yankees catcher a contender for American League Rookie of the Year honors if he keeps this up.

The same day he was named the American League Player of the Week, New York Yankees rookie catcher Gary Sanchez went out and began making his case for the following week’s award, going 3-for-4 with a pair of moon shots in the Yankees 7-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

The 23-year-old Sanchez is now hitting .385/.429/.831 (235 wRC+) in 70 plate appearances on the season. He has launched eight home runs in 16 games since his promotion on August 3rd, locking down both the starting catcher job and the number three spot in the Yankees lineup in short order with his performance.

Not only does Sanchez have a very strong case for the AL Player of the Month award for August, but if he keeps this up, he could force his way into the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year conversation.

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It’s not as crazy as it might sound. Coming into Tuesday, Gary Sanchez ranked second among AL rookie position players in wins above replacement according to Baseball-Reference’s metric with 1.7, behind only Minnesota’s Max Kepler.

Unfortunately, the competition looks a lot stiffer when you include pitchers in the discussion. Five rookie AL pitchers have accumulated more WAR than Sanchez in 2016: Michael Fulmer of the Tigers (4.8 WAR), Chris Devenski of the Astros (2 WAR), Tony Barnette of the Rangers (1.9 WAR), Ryan Dull of the Athletics (1.9 WAR), and Dylan Bundy of the Orioles (1.8 WAR).

Michael Fulmer is the clear AL ROY frontrunner and even has a pretty strong case for the Cy Young award. That’s going to be pretty tough to overcome with just over a month remaining. Sanchez would have to keep up this insane production through the end of the season just to be in the running. 

If you put Fulmer aside, however, Sanchez would have a pretty strong case if he continued his hot hitting. Kepler has been excellent for the Twins this season, hitting .253/.334/.487 with 15 home runs through 309 plate appearances, but Sanchez could surpass him if he maintains this pace.

The rest of the group is composed of some solid relievers, but a dynamic two-way everyday player like Sanchez is way more valuable than any bullpen arm not named Aroldis.

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While it remains an extreme longshot simply because of his lack of playing time this year, Gary Sanchez has at least put himself in the conversation for the American League Rookie of the Year award with his insane month of August, and could steal some votes following the season.