Expect NL's Top Frosh To Hail From East
ALSO: RETIRED NUMBERS SOMETIMES MULTIPLY
Pregame Pepper
The young, underrated Washington Nationals scored first-inning runs with nobody out in Phoenix Saturday, tying a 1948 National League record but missing the major-league mark (2003 Red Sox) by one . . .
Washington won the game against the struggling D’backs, 11-7 . . .
Basketball superstar Kevin Durant, a native of Washington, shows his support for the Nationals with a tattoo of the team’s curly W . . .
Garrett Crochet fanned 12 Braves, one off his career best, last Sunday for Boston . . .
But it was less-heralded fellow pitcher Hunter Brown (Astros) who was the first major-leaguer to reach eight wins this year . . .
To continue the out-of-nowhere trend, Kaycee’s Kris Bubic had a 1.43 ERA, best in baseball, as the calendar changed from May to June.
Leading Off
How the NL East is Dominating the Rookie of the Year Race
By Allen Settle
When the 2025 MLB season began, Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Roki Sasaki was the clear favorite to lead the class of first-year players. Unfortunately, a combination of injuries and early-season struggles has turned Sasaki into more of a long-term project, albeit with considerable upside. That has opened the door for an unusually specific group of players to rise above the rest.
The National League East currently boasts the top three betting favorites in the NL Rookie of the Year (ROY) race. Altogether, the division features five of the top ten candidates.
Atlanta Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin, a left-handed hitter who runs well, has managed to surpass veteran Sean Murphy as the Braves’ primary backstop. In just 105 plate appearances, the former Missouri State star posted a blistering .337 batting average with five home runs. His advanced stats suggest that his bat has quickly developed into a dangerous weapon. While his defensive metrics still leave some room for improvement, the rifle-armed Baldwin has exceeded all expectations so far this season.
Miami Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez is also rising fast. In fact, only one catcher in all of baseball has recorded 7+ home runs, 11+ doubles, and an .800+ OPS this season. Not Cal Raleigh. Not William Contreras. Not Adley Rutschman. And not Drake Baldwin. The answer, of course, is Ramirez.
What’s most impressive is that Ramirez has accomplished this feat in just 122 career at-bats, significantly fewer than most of his peers. His case for NL Rookie of the Year grows stronger with each passing week.
Dylan Crews of the Washington Nationals has fallen slightly in the race due to early-season struggles. However, he remains within the top seven in ROY odds. His seven home runs and 11 steals give him the counting stats needed to stay relevant in the race. Unfortunately, his unsightly .196 batting average has severely limited his momentum. If the former LSU star can correct his contact issues, he has the clearest path to rocket up the leader-board. For now, he remains an underdog with legitimate upside.
New York Mets rookie Luisangel Acuña, a fleet middle infielder, rounds out the field, ranking ninth among top NL rookies. The brother of former Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuña, Jr. has carved out an unusual but valuable role with the Mets. While his bat has shown limited pop (zero home runs), his .260 batting average is respectable. However, a .313 OBP puts him below league average in on-base ability.
What Acuña does offer is speed and defense. He leads the team with 11 steals and plays plus defense at multiple positions. At this stage, he seems best suited for a super-utility role—providing defense, speed, and depth. His long-term ceiling remains uncertain but intriguing.
Lastly, two more players deserve an honorable mention. Atlanta pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver was a top-ranking option before an injury tragically derailed his season. The 22-year-old starter had made significant strides after disappointing in brief MLB stints in 2023 and 2024. Still rookie-eligible, Smith-Shawver rebounded with a rock-solid 3.67 ERA across his first 41.2 innings. His combination of an above-average fastball (73rd percentile in velocity) and a change-of-pace splitter gives him a truly dangerous arsenal. If he overcomes his latest obstacle and recovers fully, the Braves’ rookie could emerge as the next great ace in Atlanta.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Philadelphia Phillies expected to debut Andrew Painter. Arguably the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, the former first-round pick is poised to quickly emerge as a phenom in 2025 and beyond.
Individually, all six of these NL East rookies appear destined for long MLB careers. Together, they make up one of the strongest division-specific rookie classes in recent memory. Already a powerhouse division, the NL East’s future looks remarkably bright.
Allen Settle is an MLB writer who has never given up on his passion for the beautiful game of baseball! He is an IBWAA member who has worked as a contributor for the Fansided network, covering both the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins. Currently, Allen covers baseball prospects at Prospects1500.com and is a general MLB writer at YardBarker.com.
Cleaning Up
Doubling Up On Retired Numbers
By Dan Schlossberg
The only team that has never won a pennant is about to make headlines another way: by retiring the same number twice within a one-year span.
The Seattle Mariners will not only retire No. 51 for Ichiro this Aug. 9 but will also honor Randy Johnson the same way at an undisclosed date in 2026 – maybe even on the one-year anniversary of the Ichiro retirement.
Ichiro, the headliner of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025, will be inducted into the Cooperstown institution on July 27. He’s been in the Mariners Hall of Fame since 2022.
Johnson, who retired after winning his 300th game during the 2009 campaign, has had a Cooperstown plaque since 2015. The towering left-hander pitched for the M’s from 1993-98 before his trade to the Montreal Expos and will always be remembered for his Cy Young Award season in 1995, which came within a whisker of bringing a championship to the Pacific Northwest.
When Ichiro made his Seattle debut in 2001, he was handed No. 51, which Johnson was still wearing as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. His number has already been retired there.
Retiring the same number twice is not all that unusual.
Not counting the No. 42, universally retired in tribute to the late Jackie Robinson, many teams have done it.
The New York Yankees, who have retired all of their single-digit jerseys, actually retired No. 8 twice – for catchers Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey.
A later Yankees Hall of Famer, Mariano Rivera, continued to wear No. 42 with permission even after the league-wide retirement edict for Jackie Robinson’s numerals.
The same “grandfather clause” applied to Bruce Sutter, who had those numerals with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The only other American League team that retired the same number twice was The Athletics, now playing in West Sacramento while transitioning from Oakland to Las Vegas.
The A’s honored Rollie Fingers in 1993 and Dave Stewart on 2022. Both wore No. 34.
Three National League teams have also retired the same number twice.
The Chicago Cubs took No. 31 out of circulation in 2009 for both Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux; the Cincinnati Reds honored the late Willard Hershberger and Johnny Bench, who both wore No. 5; and the Expos hung up No. 10 for Rusty Staub in 1993 and Andre Dawson in 1997.
In addition to Jackie Robinson, a dozen players have had their uniforms retired by multiple clubs.
Frank Robinson, no relation to Jackie, wore No. 20 for the Reds, Orioles, and Indians (now Guardians) and had that number retired by all three.
Nolan Ryan was also honored by three teams: the Astros and Rangers retired No. 34 in his honor, while the Angels mothballed his No. 30.
The Angels also retired Rod Carew’s No. 29, which has also been retired by the Twins.
Another perennial batting champion, Wade Boggs, had No. 26 retired by the Boston Red Sox and his No. 12 by his hometown team, the Tampa Bay Rays.
Reggie Jackson’s No. 9 was retired by the Athletics and No. 44 by the Yankees.
Carlton Fisk, who reversed his No. 27 Red Sox number when he jumped to the White Sox (72) via free agency, had both numbers retired in his honor.
The A’s retired the jersey of star reliever Rollie Fingers, whose No. 34 was also honored by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Fellow pitcher Roy Halladay wore No. 32 in Toronto and No. 34 in Philadelphia, with both now retired by those clubs.
At least Maddux was as consistent with his numbers as he was with the strike zone; he pitched No. 31 into retirement by both the Cubs and Braves.
Speaking of Atlanta, Hank Aaron’s No. 44 was taken out of circulation by both the Braves and Brewers, while the No. 24 worn by Willie Mays was retired by both the Giants and Mets.
The Mets also retired the number (14) worn by manager Gil Hodges, who had that jersey retired after his stellar playing career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Unlike Hodges, however, only two managers had their numbers retired by multiple teams: Casey Stengel’s No. 37, by the Yankees and Mets, and Sparky Anderson’s No. 10 by the Reds and No. 11 by the Tigers.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of 42 baseball books, including The New Baseball Bible and Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron. He’ll be signing in New Jersey June 9 at Springfield Library (7p), June 11 at Barnes & Noble Paramus on Route 17 (630p), and June 12 at Fair Lawn Senior Center (1p). His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Gehrig’s Greatness
As great as Lou Gehrig was in the regular season, he was even better in the World Series: his .361 batting average and .731 slugging percentage were among the best for players with at least 100 playoff plate appearances. He also had 10 homers and drove home 35 in 34 Series games . . .
Gehrig’s great streak of consecutive games ended in Detroit on May 2, 1939, when he voluntarily left the Yankees lineup. He played only once more, in a June 12 exhibition game against the minor-league Kansas City Blues (he grounded out once and had problems in the field) . . .
Before joining the Yankees, Gehrig was an engineering student and a football player at Columbia, where he also played baseball . . .
Named Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig by his immigrant parents, Gehrig Americanized his name to Henry Louis Gehrig . . .
The first man to have his number (4) retired, Gehrig was a six-time MVP and a member of six world championship teams. He also was the first player in baseball’s Modern Era to hit four home runs in a game.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.