Chesco's Joey Wendle Finishes 4th In AL Rookie Of The Year Voting

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — When the 2018 Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year awards were announced Monday night, the voting came in pretty much as most industry analysts might have expected it to at the start of the 2018 season, with one notable exception: Avon Grove High School and West Chester University graduate Joey Wendle, who finished fourth in the American League voting.

There was the hard hitting Miguel Andujar, the Yankees 23-year-old third baseman from the Dominican Republican. Then there was Gleyber Torres, the Yankees 21-year-old Venezuelan middle infielder who has sat atop prospect lists since he was 17. Another rookie Venezeuelan, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves, is considered a Mike Trout-esque talent at just 20. The Nationals' Dominican phenom Juan Soto was known around the world even before he rewrote the record books for teenage professionals this year. And of course there was Shoehei Ohtani, the Japanese Babe Ruth, known worldwide for years, dominating on both the mound and at the plate at age 23.

Wendle, unlike all of these players, is not in his teens or early 20s. He's 28. He has not been hailed as the next Mike Trout or Babe Ruth since his high school days. A year ago, the dawn of his career was not a globally anticipated event. He never featured at the top of a Baseball American top prospects list, nevermind ranking in the top 5.

Yet still, when the dust settled, there he was, taking his place among the greatest young baseball players on the planet after his first full season in the bigs.

Noted baseball writer Jeff Passan with Yahoo Sports called Wendle "consistently excellent" and there is no better way to describe his season. He hit .300. He didn't hit a ton of home runs (7) but he had gap power, with a .789 OPS and 33 doubles in 487 at bats. He stole 16 bases and was only caught four times. Defensively, he started at least seven games at four different positions, including second base, shortstop, third base, and left field, earning strong marks everywhere except left. He had one down month, June, where he hit .192, but was otherwise consistent throughout the year.

He was arguably the most important position player on a Tampa Bay Rays team which everyone thought was rebuilding but somehow managed to win 90 games. In many ways, Wendle's versatile, subtle, and surprising season was a perfect mirror of the Rays own success.

A year ago such a performance would have seemed unthinkable. Wendle played parts of two seasons in the majors with the Athletics in 2016 and 2017, never earning enough at bats to exhaust his rookie elibility. He hit in the .260's with just 111 at bats over those two years. He seemed destined for a career as a "Quad-A" player, bouncing back and forth between the minors and big leagues; still a remarkable achievement for a Division II athlete drafted in the 6th round in 2012, but a long ways off from Rookie of the Year consideration.

Of note to local Phillies fans: as a Chester County native, Wendle grew up rooting for the Phillies. During his first visit to Citizens Bank Park with the A's in 2016, he smacked a grand slam. And according to profiles of Wendle and testaments to his personality, he plays the game the same way as Chase Utley: smart baserunning, sound fundamentals, and a strong work ethic.

Wendle was even once described as a "gritty" player. And perhaps that helps explain the one anomaly in this year's rookie of the year voting results. Because though many may not have seen it coming, Wendle didn't come out of nowhere. He came from Avon Grove and West Chester, and it was a few decades' worth of work that brought him exactly where he is today.

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