Was Tanner Bibee A Rookie Of The Year Snub?
Major League Baseball had a number of fantastic rookies playing in the 2023 season. The Cleveland Guardians roster was no exception and Tanner Bibee was even a finalist for the award.
However, it was announced on Monday night that Baltimore Orioles third baseman Gunnar Henderson would take home the honors as the American League Rookie of the Year. Bibee finished second in the voting.
But was Bibee more deserving to win the award? Should he be considered a Rookie of the Year snub?
Aug 13, 2023; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee (61) walks off the field against the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
© Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
There's a lot to break down here. For one, it's more difficult to directly compare these two players considering Bibee played every five days and Gunnar was on the field almost every night. Also, one was trying to score runs and the other was trying to prevent them.
It's just the nature of their positions.
Let's look at this from a WAR standpoint first. Henderson finished the 2023 season with a WAR of 4.6 and Bibee's season ended at 3.0, per FanGraphs. Gunnar easily has the upper hand in this department.
It also doesn't hurt Henderson's case that he was at the center of a resurgent Orioles team that finished first place in the AL East. Bibee on the other hand was a Guardians roster treading water for much of the season and finished 10 games under .500.
Henderson's 28 home runs and 82 RBI were also the most among American League rookies.
The one area where Bibee may have Gunnar beat is in consistency.
Cleveland's pitcher debuted in April and went on to pitch four months with an ERA under 3.00. June was the only month in which Bibee struggled and finished with an ERA of 5.04.
Gunnar had a little bit more of a roller-coaster season as he had a batting average of .201 and a wRC+ of 100 through the first three months of the season. He was an average ball player at best during this stretch. June is really when Henderson took off, but even his .994 OPS in that month wasn't maintainable throughout the rest of the year.
At the end of the day, Gunnar winning ROY does not mean that Bibee was snubbed from the award. Baltimore's infielder is more than deserving even though it would've been cool to see Bibee take home the trophy.
