MLB Daily: Joey Gallo, Joc Pederson & The Great 2015 Rookie Class

Welcome to MLB Daily on a Wednesday, we’re still truckin’ …

Rookies 4 Life: Joey Gallo flirted with the cycle in his first game in the big leagues. Joc Pederson crushed some balls in Denver halfway to Steamboat Springs. In 2015 baseball it’s good to be a rookie, unwritten rules of decorum be damned.

Pederson, the Dodgers centerfielder, is now up to 16 home runs while slugging .588. His teammate and fellow rookie, Alex Guerrero, smashed a go-ahead grand slam to push the Dodgers to victory. That’s now 10 home runs in a scant 98 at bats for Guerrero, since Don Mattingly is seemingly hell bent on getting Justin Turner playing time.

Meanwhile Kris Bryant is posting a .273/.387/.468 line since his mid-April call-up to the Cubs and played a game in the outfield this week. Addison Russell and Jorge Soler continue to make strides during their first full seasons in Wrigley, too. Shortstop Jung Ho Kang is making up for lost time with the Pirates.

Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time award races are silly and a poor excuse for people to get riled up. That said, the National League Rookie of the Year race between Pederson and Bryant will be fascinating. Both play in major media markets on teams that could make the playoffs, adding a wrinkle of intrigue for something that ultimately doesn’t mean all that much aside from an extra time on a Wikipedia page.

Rays rookie Steven Souza Jr. has 10 homers — and 71 strikeouts to his name. Toronto’s Devon Travis looked to be a shoo-in for AL Rookie of the Year until landing on the disabled list. Depending on when Houston calls up super-prospect Carlos Correa, he could work himself into the ROY conversation in the AL, too.

On the mound, rookies aren’t quite as headline-worthy as they are at the plate. Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez, Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani, San Francisco’s Chris Heston and Tampa’s Nate Karns have been solid in their respective rotations, but that’s about it. The Mets’ Noah Syndergaard might have the highest ceiling for rookie pitchers, despite being roughed up in San Diego Tuesday night.

Anyways here are Pederson’s two blasts vs. the Rockies, which went nearly 1,000 feet combined. Distance isn’t all that big a deal when it comes to home runs, but they sure do look cool. Better yet, the crack of the bat remains the best sound in sports.

It’s worth mentioning that of the hitters mentioned above only Gallo and Russell, each 21, are younger than Bryce Harper, who is tied with Nelson Cruz for the most home runs in baseball with 18.

Everyone’s a Comedian: We’ve hit peak Bartolo Colon, act accordingly….

Yep, the commissioner of baseball is now perfectly willing to crack a Bartolo Colon joke in a serious discussion about the DH in the National League. Then again you should have seen the telegrams Kenesaw Mountain Landis sent about Eppa Rixey.

Archer reference: Last month Lisk and I did an “ace” pitcher draft. SHAMELESS LINK PLUG. I took Chris Archer in the Top 10 and feel pretty good about it this morning after he struck out 15 Angels to move atop the strikeout leaderboard ahead of Corey Kluber. Archer is also in the Top 10 in WHIP and Batting Average Against. In the offseason I touted him as a breakout player, so here’s another SHAMELESS LINK PLUG. (Sorry for patting myself on the back, although I didn’t do so great with my other wild guesses on the list.)

The only run Archer gave up Tuesday night was a homer to Albert Pujols — the 534th of his career. That ties him with Jimmie Foxx for 17th all-time. Pujols is two behind Mickey Mantle.

Meanwhile in Buffalo …: 38-year-old Randy Wolf is still plugging away with the Blue Jays Triple-A team in Buffalo. Last night he helped turn a triple play.

Wolf pitched 20+ innings with Miami last year. I guess he deserves some sort of credit for toiling away in the minors, despite making close to $70 million already in his career.

This & That: Richard Sherman threw out the first pitch at the Mariners game. Lloyd McClendon got ejected early and the Yankees won 5-3 in 11. … Clay Buchholz threw eight scoreless innings vs. the Twins, hours after John Henry gave an embarrassed state of the team type speech to reporters. … Cleveland continues to play better and won 2-1 in Kansas City …

[We are still working]