American League Rookie of the Year Betting Odds, Analysis, and Picks

The 2022 Major League Baseball regular season is now taking some shape after a late start and oddsmakers online have a number of interesting Futures Book props offerings, including the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year which is a wide-open race despite the numbers.

Maybe not quite as popular as the NBA Rookie of the Year Award or the NHL’s Calder Trophy Award, the AL Rookie of the Year Award has given the Junior Circuit some huge stars in recent years, and at least three who look destined for the MLB Hall of Fame.

Royals Witt Jr. Is AL ROY Favorite But Is It Best to Look Elsewhere?

In 2018, two-way Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani captured the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year honors after leaving the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball’s (NPB) Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in the Pacific League where he starred from 2013 to 2017.

Last year, Ohtani (+275 to win 2022 AL MVP, BetUS) added to his honors, winning the AL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) for the Halos after he went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156K’s as a Pitcher and hitting .257 with 46 HR and 100 RBI with a .372 OBP for LAA.

And like MLB legend Babe Ruth, the 27-year-old Ohtani (6-4, 210) had his share of Triples (8) last 2021 MLB Regular Season, so there may be a club of two dudes who have been great MLP Pitchers and Sluggers who could be considered the best player in the game.

And Ohtani—also the winner of the 2021 Silver Slugger Award—is the favorite to win the AL MVP again this season, but so far the Oshu, Japan native is just 1-2 on the bump (4.40 ERA) and has just a .224 BA with 3 HRs and 9 RBI after 16 games for the Angels (9-7).

The Astros SS Carlos Correa (2015) and the Yankees 1B Aaron Judge (2017) have also won the AL MVP and may be headed to Cooperstown one day along with Ohtani after all of the orange-red dirt on the diamond clears and the cleats are hung up for the last time.

The Rookie of the Year Award—also known as the Jackie Robinson Award for the first recipient of the award—was born in 1947 and there was just one award for all of Major League Baseball but was split into an AL MVP Award and an NL MVP Award in 1949.

Today is the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s MLB debut in 1947.

Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award that season, and his Number 42 was universally retired 25 years ago today. pic.twitter.com/fvHlw4Gl5Z

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 15, 2022

Robinson starred for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1957 and he was the first African American player in MLB, breaking the color line and punched segregation in the gut as he started at 1B for the Dodgers—now playing in Los Angeles—on April 15, 1947.

The contenders for the Rookie of the Year Award in both leagues are usually players with minimal MLB experience the season before, top NCAA College Baseball players, and International talent all drafted by the 30 teams now playing in Major League Baseball.

In 1979, the AL ROY was shared by Minnesota Twins SS John Castino and Toronto Blue Jays SS Alfredo Griffin and there have been six AL Rookies of the Year from the Junior Circuit to have been inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

Randy Arozarena of the Rays was the winner of the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year Award after the RF had a 274 BA with 20 HRs and 74 RBI for the AL East contenders last season in his Rookie Year in Tampa Bay. Arozarena was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the 2020 MLB Postseason, Arozarena established an MLB Record by hitting 10 Home Runs in one Postseason, smashing six against the Houston Astros in the 2020 American League Championship Series, where he was named the ALCS MVP for his play.

Like all of the other MLB awards, the AL and the NL Rookie of the Year awards are voted on and decided by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), so remember that when handicapping this market and remember how long the season is.

Top MLB Betting sites have put out odds for the various postseason MLB Awards, including the AL and the NL Rookie of the Year, as well and the MVP, Cy Young for both leagues. Here are your fresh AL ROY numbers:

2022 AL Rookie of the Year Award Winner Odds

• Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals +300
• Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers +375
• Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians +600
• Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners +600
• Jeremy Peña, Houston Astros +850
• Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles +1000
• Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins +1800
• Josh Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays +2000
• Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers +4000
• Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles +5000
• Reid Detmers, Los Angeles Angels +6000
• Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox +6600
• Daulton Jeffries, Oakland A’s +6600
• Vidal Bruján, Tampa Bay Rays +8000
• Jake Burger, Chicago White Sox +10000
• Estevan Florial, New York Yankees +10000
• Luis Gil, New York Yankees +10000
• Jordan Groshans, Toronto Blue Jays +10000
• Kyle Isbel, Kansas City Royals +10000
• José Siri, Houston Astros +10000
• Gabriel Arias, Cleveland Guardians +12500
• George Kirby, Seattle Mariners +12500
• Richie Palacios, Cleveland Guardians +12500
• Nick Pratto, Kansas City Royals +125000
• AJ Puk, Oakland A’s +12500
• Kevin Smith, Oakland A’s +12500
• Nick Allen, Oakland A’s +15000
• Brent Honeywell Jr., Oakland A’s +15000
• Sam Huff, Texas Rangers +15000
• Tyler Nevin, Baltimore Orioles +15000

American League Rookie of the Year Award Winners

• 2021—Randy Arozarena, Tampa Bay Rays
• 2020—Kyle Lewis, Seattle Mariners
• 2019—Yordan Álvarez, Houston Astros
• 2018—Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
• 2017—Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
• 2016—Michael Fulmer, Detroit Tigers
• 2015—Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
• 2014—José Abreu, Chicago White Sox
• 2013—Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays
• 2012— Mike Trout. Los Angeles Angels
• 2011—Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
• 2010—Netfali Feliz, Texas Rangers
• 2009—Andrew Bailey, Oakland A’s
• 2008—Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
• 2007—Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
• 2006—Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
• 2005—Huston Street, Oakland A’s
• 2004—Bobby Crosby, Oakland A’s
• 2003—Ángel Berroa, Kansas City Royals
• 2002—Eric Hinske, Toronto Blue Jays
• 2001—Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
• 2000—Kazuhiro Sasaki. Seattle Mariners

American League Rookie of Year Award Anyone’s Guess

Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (3/1) is the favorite in this AL Rookie of the Year market and the Royals IF is a 5-tool prospect but hasn’t exactly had a great start after Kansas City’s first 13 games (5-8) with a .184 BA (9-for-49) with 0 HRs and 4 RBI.

Witt Jr. is the son of former MLB P Bobby Witt, and was drafted out of High School and made his MLB debut this year in the KC Roster on Opening Day. He thrived in AA last year and then was promoted to AAA where he had 17 HRs and 15 SBs in 63 games played.

Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians (6/1) and Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners (6/1) are the oddsmakers’ third co-favorites for now after Kwan saw a bunch of money bet on him after a fairly decent start to the 2022 MLB Regular Season.

Cleveland CF Kwan (5-9, 170) was batting .341 with 7 RBI and suffered a hamstring injury against the New York Yankees on Sunday so keep your eye on that and remember he is smaller than your average MLB player but he looks like one of three worth betting on.

And Rodriguez has gotten off to a weak start for the Mariners, with the Rookie Seattle CF hitting just .196 for Seattle with just 5 RBI after the M’s first 14 impressive games (10-4). So it seems the winner may not be Witt Jr., Kwan, or Rodriguez, but maybe someone else.

Honor to cover the baseball journey of @skwanzaa https://t.co/Po552aY7He

— Jonathan Engelmann (@JonnyNutCracker) December 10, 2021

Jeremy Peña (+850) of the Houston Astros is worth consideration after the SS got off to a decent start, with a .260 BA, 3 HRs and 6 RBI in the Astros first 12 games (7-5) and hitting a game-winning, walkoff HR against the Blue jays on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

Baltimore Orioles C Adley Rutschman (10/1), Minnesota Twins SP Joe Ryan, (2-1, 1.69 ERA, 0.88 WHIP; 18/1), and Tampa Bay Rays CF Josh Lowe (20/1), but Rutschman and Lowe haven’t impressed while a small wager on Ryan at 18/1 makes a lot of sense now.

The Detroit Tigers (66/1 to win 2022 World Series, BetUS) have two decent Rookies to look at in the aL Rookie of the Year marketplace in Riley Greene (40/1) and Spencer Torkelson (+375), the latter the oddsmakers’ second favorites to win at this point in time.

Rutschman was a 1st Pick for Detroit as was 1B Torkelson who played for Arizona State, the College that proudly gave us MLB Hall of Famer and super-slugger Barry Bonds. After inhaling Summer League and Minor League ball like nothing, he’s ready for The Bigs.

Torkeslon has started off the season hitting just .217 with 3 HRs and RBI after 15 games for Detroit (6-9) who sat in 3rd place in the AL’s Central Division after two weeks and some of play. CF Greene (6-3, 200, 5th Pick in 2019 MLB Draft) has yet to play.