Rockies' TJ Rumfield Is Being Overlooked in NL Rookie of the Year Race

The Colorado Rockies rookie, TJ Rumfield may not be the frontrunner for the National League Rookie of the Year, but the first baseman should get more respect than the voting suggests.

Colorado Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield (7) runs to third on a triple in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No award will be needed to validate the special season TJ Rumfield has had with the Colorado Rockies. His performances speak for themselves.

The conversations are starting to heat up around the National League Rookie of the Year, and Rumfield should be getting more attention.

In the latest MLB.com poll, released on September 2, Cincinnati Reds slugger Sal Stewart is comfortably leading the NL with 173 points. St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherhold is ranked at No. 2 with 140 points. Then came New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean with 115, and Mets outfielder Carson Benge rounded out the top four at 106.

So, where was Rumfield? He was fifth but only had 37 points with one first-place vote. The poll surveys 40 MLB.com experts and the voters all rank their top five candidates on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale.

That’s a large gap between fourth and fifth. When you start looking at the numbers, it’s clear Rumfield deserves more respect.

TJ Rumfield Has Stats Difficult to Ignore

Colorado Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield (7) rounds third base on his way to score a run in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Rumfield is currently hitting .299/.389/.460 with an .849 OPS through 139 games. He has 15 home runs, 28 doubles, three triples, and 67 RBI while also drawing 65 walks against 78 strikeouts.

Stewart is hitting .268/.338/.483 with an .821 OPS. Wetherhold owns a .242/.343/.370 stat line with a .713 OPS. Benge is .276/.334/.416 with a .750 OPS.

That means in very simple terms that Rumfield currently leads all four position players in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS.

Now when it comes to power numbers, Sal Stewart runs away with the show. He has 31 home runs and 107 RBI. There is a very clear argument to keep Stewart at the top of the list.

McLean is more difficult to compare directly with stats because he’s a pitcher, but an 11-8 record, 3.06 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 179 strikeouts over 161.2 innings make his number two spot on the list very defensible.

Wetherholt and Benge also have areas where Rumfield can’t match up. Wetherhold is an elite defenseman at second base while Benge’s speed and athletic ability have allowed him to steal 20 bases.

Those are very legitimate arguments.

What does not completely add up, though, is the enormous margin by which they lead Rumfield in the poll.

Coors Field Doesn’t Explain Away Rumfield’s Success

Colorado Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield (7) hits a solo home run in the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When a Rockies hitter is in the conversation for anything, there will always be questions surrounding the home versus away performance.

Yes, Rumfield has benefited from playing in the famous Coors Field, particularly in the power department. He has hit 10 of his 15 home runs at home. He has also driven in 47 of his 67 runs there.

But, overall, his home-road splits hardly make his overall production for the season disappear.

Rumfield is batting .307 in Denver and .290 on the road. He has also drawn an impressive 36 walks away from home compared with 29 at Coors Field, despite having fewer road at-bats.

His season is not being inflated due to his home ballpark.

Another interesting fact is that he is getting better the longer the season goes on.

His last 30 games show a batting average of .307 with a .435 on-base percentage. Narrow it down to 15 games and his numbers get better with a .367 batting and .516 on-base.

Over his last seven games, he is an incredible 12-for-26.

Meanwhile, Wetherhold was hitting .204/.323/.292 over his last 30 before he landed on the injured list. Benge has performed better but he’s only 6-for-28 over his last seven.

Rumfield isn’t fading away, he’s getting stronger. He’s making his case and proving a point.

Rumfield Has Been Doing This All Season

Colorado Rockies center fielder Jake McCarthy (31) reacts with first baseman TJ Rumfield (7) Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

His production isn’t new, so he should not be an afterthought in this race.

He was the NL Rookie of the Month in May after he recorded a .310/.400/.483 with four home runs and 12 RBI.

Then, he did it again.

This time in June, with five home runs, nine doubles, and 17 RBI. He slashed .316/.400/.589. That made him the first Rockies player to ever win Rookie of the Month twice. He was the first NL rookie to win consecutive monthly awards since Michael Harris II did it in 2022.

Given all of this, he still isn’t commanding the sort of respect one would think he deserves.

In fact, when Mike Petriello of MLB.com looked at the NL Rookie of the Year race in August, Rumfield wasn’t even mentioned.

How do you leave him out of the conversation all together?

Sure, he doesn’t have Stewart’s power. He’s not the position player that Wetherhold is. He doesn’t have Benge’s speed. But, leaving him out of the conversation entirely when he leads several comparable stats is absurd.

He’s having one of the best offensive seasons of any rookie in the National League.

I’m not saying he should win the award, but I will stand on the box and say that he shouldn’t be an afterthought, either.