We’re going to predict the winner of the 2023 MLB American League Rookie of the Year Award.
There was a very strong rookie class in 2022. Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners ended up winning the 2022 MLB AL Rookie of the Year Award after hitting .284 with 28 HRs, 75 RBIs and 25 SBs.
Rodriguez finished the season with a 6.2 WAR. Since 2002, only Mike Trout (10.5 WAR), Jose Fernandez (6.6 WAR) and Aaron Judge (8.0 WAR) have won ROY awards with a higher WAR.
Top Contenders to Win the 2023 AL ROY Award
There are five rookies paying below 10/1 odds to win the 2023 American League ROY Award.
Gunnar Henderson (+350)
Henderson hit .297 for 19 HRs and 76 RBIs between AA and AAA last season. He was then brought up to the Majors where he batted .259/.349/.440 with 4 HRs and 18 RBIs in 116 at bats.
Henderson will play full-time for the Orioles this season and will bat in the middle of the order.
Royce Lewis (+600)
I’m surprised Lewis is priced second in the market. He has struggled through the Minors since 2017. He’s still only 23 years old, but he plays shortstop and the Twins gave Carlos Correa a $200 million contract.
Lewis hit .300 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs in 12 games with the Twins last season. He’s also rehabbing from a right ACL tear, his second. He isn’t expected to be ready to play until around July.
Hunter Brown (+700)
Brown is a 2019 fifth-rounder, but he’s emerging as a top of the rotation pitcher. Brown went 9-4 with a 2.55 ERA and 1.085 WHIP in AAA last season. He had 134 strikeouts in 106 innings (11.4 SO/9).
He got called up by the Astros and went 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA and 1.082 WHIP. He struck out 22 batters in 20.1 innings. He also pitched 3⅔ scoreless innings in the postseason, gaining valuable experience.
Triston Casas (+900)
Casas struggled a bit when he moved up to the Majors last season. He batted .197/.358/.408 with 5 HRs and 12 RBIs in 27 games. He has power, but needs to get on base more often.
He also had 23 strikeouts in 76 at bats (30.3%) with the Red Sox last season, which is terrible.
Anthony Volpe (+900)
Volpe split time between AA and AAA last season. He still hasn’t made his MLB debut. He’ll start this year in AAA and should get called up at some point, but not playing full time will hurt his ROY chances.
Volpe hit .249/.342/.460 with 21 HRs and 65 RBIs last season, but his numbers dropped in AAA play.
2023 MLB American League ROY Picks
Best Bet: Henderson (+350)
I recommend betting on the favorite. Henderson is favored for a reason. He’s going to play full time with the Orioles and it won’t take him long to establish himself as a productive middle-of-the-order bat.
2023 MLB ROY Odds for American League
Here are the full betting odds for the 2023 MLB American League Rookie of the Year market:
Gunnar Henderson (+350)
Royce Lewis (+600)
Hunter Brown (+700)
Triston Casas (+900)
Anthony Volpe (+900)
Masataka Yoshida (+1000)
Logan O’Hoppe (+1000)
Grayson Rodriguez (+1000)
Josh Jung (+1200)
Kyle Muller (+1500)
DL Hall (+2000)
Oscar Colas (+2200)
Oswald Peraza (+2500)
Bo Naylor (+3000)
Zack Gelof (+3500)
Matt Wallner (+5000)
Emerson Hancock (+5000)
Joey Wentz (+7500)
George Valera (+7500)
Curtis Mead (+7500)
Yosver Zulueta (+10000)
Taj Bradley (+10000)
Jack Leiter (+10000)
Brayan Rocchio (+10000)
Check out our 2023 National League MVP predictions and 2023 National League Cy Young predictions.
