Guardians 

Messick lands in the top 3 in latest Rookie of the Year poll

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Three rookies are among the exclusive group of players bound for Philadelphia ahead of next week’s All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at Citizens Bank Park.

One of those players paces the American League atop our third Rookie of the Year poll. The NL leader had a compelling case, too: And while he didn’t make this year’s team, it sure looks as if there are plenty of All-Star nods in his future.

We asked a panel of 30 MLB.com experts to base their ROY picks not only on the results to date, but how they think the rest of the season will unfold.

Voters ranked their top five picks in each league on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on. Here are the results.

All stats are through play on Monday.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. , Tigers (123 total vote points, 20 first-place votes)

McGonigle, 21, is the second-youngest player in Tigers history to make an All-Star Game, behind only Hall of Famer Al Kaline. The nod is certainly well deserved — McGonigle has very quickly established himself as one of the best players in baseball. His 3.8 fWAR is sixth highest in the Majors. Thanks to a unique profile of plus power, elite plate discipline, and very little swing-and-miss, McGonigle has a 128 OPS+ through 87 games (that means his offensive production is 28% better than league average).

2. , White Sox (100 total vote points, 7 first-place votes)

Murakami was on track to make the All-Star team before he suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain on May 29. In fact, his first 57 big league games were so sensational that he still occupies the No. 2 spot in our latest poll. Murakami leads all qualified rookies with a .938 OPS and a .560 slugging percentage, while his 20 home runs are tied for most with Toronto’s Kazuma Okamoto. Murakami’s return to the feel-good White Sox also appears imminent after he started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Monday.

3. , Guardians (90 total vote points, 2 first-place votes)

Along with teammate , Messick is one of just five rookies in Cleveland history to earn an All-Star nod. The crafty left-hander has emerged as an ace for the pitching-rich Guardians. His 2.80 ERA is lowest among qualified rookies, and he leads all rookies with 106 innings pitched in 18 starts. Messick relies on a funky delivery and a versatile six-pitch mix to generate weak contact.

4. , Blue Jays (40 total vote points)

Okamoto strung together six consecutive 30+ home run seasons for the Yomiuri Giants, and he’s on his way to clearing that mark in his first year in the Majors. Okamoto has launched 20 home runs — tied with Murakami for most among rookies — and driven in 55 runs. That’s 20 more RBIs than the next-closest Blue Jays hitter.

5. , Orioles (29 total vote points, 1 first-place vote)

Basallo cracks the ROY poll for the first time thanks to some serious pop. When — he of 283 career home runs — says that a player has no ceiling, you pay attention. That’s what’s happening with Basallo (120 OPS+, 14 homers), who may have just notched his most impressive feat yet. On Saturday, Basallo turned around a 100.4 mph fastball from Reds ace Hunter Greene for a 406-foot home run, the second-fastest pitch hit for a home run by an Orioles player in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).

Others receiving votes: Travis Bazzana (Guardians), Payton Tolle (Red Sox), Carter Jensen (Royals), Tristan Peters (White Sox), Trey Yesavage (Blue Jays), Sam Antonacci (White Sox), Connelly Early (Red Sox), Chase DeLauter (Guardians), Spencer Miles (Blue Jays)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. , Cardinals (124 total vote points, 19 first-place votes)

For the second consecutive ROY poll, Wetherholt is head and shoulders ahead of the field. By FanGraphs’ version of WAR, he has been the seventh-most valuable player in the Majors this season, at 3.7 fWAR. That’s because of his bat (119 OPS+) and, most impressively, his glove. By Statcast’s fielding run value metric, Wetherholt has been the best defender in the Majors, ahead of household names like Bobby Witt Jr. and Pete Crow-Armstrong.

2. , Reds (103 total vote points, 7 first-place votes)

The 22-year-old Stewart is headed to the All-Star Game because of his bat. He leads all rookies with 61 RBIs and has the most home runs (17) and doubles (21) among NL rookies. In case anyone needed a reminder of Stewart’s elite power, he provided one last Thursday: Stewart launched a home run off a 102.7 mph fastball from Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, the eighth-fastest home run pitch in the pitch-tracking era.

3. , Mets (64 total vote points, 1 first-place vote)

Even with a few “blow-up” starts, McLean has pitched well, posting a 3.73 ERA through 101 1/3 innings. He leads all rookies with 118 strikeouts and his .205 batting average against is lowest among qualified NL rookies. That’s not surprising: McLean has some of the best stuff in the game, using breaking balls with outlier horizontal movement and a trio of fastballs to cover all quadrants of the plate.

4. , Pirates (52 total vote points)

Votes were cast before news broke that Griffin suffered a torn tendon in his left ring finger, an injury that is expected to sideline him until September. That will certainly derail Griffin’s ability to make up any ground in the Rookie of the Year race, and in this poll. Prior to the injury, Griffin was hitting .276 with a 102 OPS+ and led all rookies with 20 stolen bases while being one of the youngest players in the Majors at just 20 years old.

5. , Rockies (45 total vote points, 3 first-place votes)

Colorado acquired Rumfield in a one-for-one swap in January that largely flew under the radar. By OPS+, Rumfield (124 OPS+) has been the Rockies’ most-productive hitter. He’s hitting .297/.375/.486 with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs with an .861 OPS that leads all NL rookies. His first appearance in the ROY poll is a deserving one.

Others receiving votes: Foster Griffin (Nationals), Bryce Eldridge (Giants), Carson Benge (Mets), Joe Mack (Marlins), A.J. Ewing (Mets), Esmerlyn Valdez (Pirates), Didier Fuentes (Braves)