Let's take a look at the rankings of the best rookies in both leagues of MLB halfway through the season.

18/07/2025 14:32:00 pandatv

Another year of All-Star celebrations has come to an end, and now the particularly brief second half of the season has arrived. You know what that means—competition has begun.

But before the regular season restarts on Saturday, Beijing time, let's review the performances so far this season. Today, we focus on one question: how is the Rookie of the Year race shaping up in our leagues?

To gain a clearer understanding, we invited 28 experts from the MLB website to vote for the top five rookies in each league—using a 5-4-3-2-1 point system (5 points for the first place, 4 points for the second, and so on). Voters needed to consider players' performances to date as well as expectations for the remaining games of the season.

Here are the voting results:

American League Rookie of the Year Rankings

Jacob Wilson, Athletics(23 first-place votes)

He has dominated the rankings for three consecutive times. Wilson remains the top choice among experts for the American League Rookie, with a batting average of .332 (second in the league) and leading all rookies with 2.9 fWAR.

His defensive skills at shortstop are still a weakness (-10 defensive runs saved, the lowest in the league), but his astonishing contact ability has made him the first rookie shortstop voted as an All-Star starter by fans, striking out only 28 times in 87 games in the first half of the season.

Nick Kurtz, Athletics(3 first-place votes)

Since June, he has hit 12 home runs in 26 games, with an OPS of 1.122, totaling 17 home runs and 44 RBIs this season, with a slugging percentage of .558 and an OPS+ of 143.

If he and Wilson secure the top two spots for Rookie of the Year, it would be the first duo of teammates in the American League since Davis and Langston from the Mariners in 1984.

Cam Smith, Astros(1 first-place vote)

As a key piece in the Tucker trade, he has quietly contributed with a batting line of .277/.347/.418 (OPS+ 113) and an outfield defense of DRS+8 (tied for tenth among outfielders).

Carlos Narváez, Red Sox

The former Yankees farm catcher has been impressive on both offense and defense this season: a caught stealing percentage of +7 (first in the league), a batting average of .273 with 8 home runs, and an OPS+ of 118.

Roman Anthony, Red Sox

With an on-base percentage of .371 (third among rookies), an OPS+ of 117, and outstanding plate discipline, he has outperformed Yankees' Dominguez and Royals' Cameron.

Other rookies receiving votes:
Jason Dominguez (Yankees), Noah Cameron (Royals; 1 first-place vote), Will Warren (Yankees), Chandler Simpson (Rays), Jack Caglione (Royals), Shane Smith (White Sox), Denzel Clarke (Athletics), Jack Leiter (Rangers), Jack Mangum (Rays), Mike Vasil (White Sox)

National League Rookie of the Year Rankings

Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers(19 first-place votes)

He has surged from 1 first-place vote a month ago to 19! Aside from a collapse against the Mets on July 2 (5 runs in 3.2 innings), in the other 4 starts: 4 wins, 0 losses, an ERA of 1.23, a strikeout rate of 39.2%, and a WHIP of 0.68.

His fastball averages 99.1 mph and he has been compared to "the next Skubal."

Drake Baldwin, Braves(9 first-place votes)

He closely trails Misiorowski with 111 points (to Misiorowski's 122 points). He had a slump in June (batting average of .200), but rebounded in July (8 hits in 29 at-bats), meeting the standards for power hitting and catcher defense this season.

Agustín Ramírez, Marlins

The key piece in the Jazz Chisholm trade, he focuses on designated hitting: 14 home runs and 20 doubles, but needs improvement on defense.

Hyeseong Kim, Dodgers

A versatile utility player (28 games at second base, 16 in center field, 8 at shortstop), he relies on speed and a batting average of .339 to establish his position. His role has increased following Hernández's injury.