No, Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch are not dead, but after the first two months of last season they both looked like mortal locks for co-rookie of the year followed by adjacent plaques in Cooperstown followed by a 6-8 term co-presidency and matching Tiger themed Air Force Ones. Unfortunately their early success didn't lead to ticker tape parades or international celebrity (yet). Jackson cooled as the season progressed but still put together one of the best seasons for a Tiger rookie in club history. Boesch looked like the Terminator for the first two months of last season. Similar to the T-1000, Boesch was blasted with liquid nitrogen around July 1 and stayed frozen the rest of the year. Proving that he is actually the Terminator, after his 3 month long implosion Brennan pieced himself together and has started this season raking once again. If Brennan can keep himself a significant distance away from molten steel, this should be a solid season.
Now that Brennan and Austin are ineligible for this year's ROY award it's time to look to the future. Let's take a gander at some top rookie performers thus far:
2B - Darwin Barney - There is a joke about how his first name is the founder of the theory of evolution and his last name is a dinosaur but you'll have to read a better blog to find it.
C - J.P. Arencibia - Toronto Blue Jays
2B - Danny Espinosa - LA Angels - Apparently, he has a bazooka attached to his arm that shoots the baseball at high speeds. Thank god he uses that thing for good rather than evil. He reminds me of this guy, who is 9-12 tool player, depending on which power-ups you had enabled.
P - Jeremy Helickson - Tampa Bay Rays
P - Kyle Drabek - Toronto Blue Jays - Back to the bench with you Delmon, before Kyle gets angry.
P- Michael Pineda - Seattle Mariners
P - Zach Britton - Baltimore Orioles - You sit down too Howard. I know it's spring training and you haven't cared in weeks, but sit down anyway.
P- Brandon Beachy - Atltana Braves
P - Craig Kimbrel - Atlanta Braves -
Chet Stedman is embroiled in a multi-trillion dollar lawsuit with the below video's poster over nickname infringement.
My early money is on Kimbrel, especially if he is a human and a rocket in one. Those sort of talents seem like they would come in handy on a baseball field, not unlike Espinosa's bazooka arm. If metal arms worked for Jax in Mortal Combat they can certainly work in the NL East.
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