Rookie phenom working way onto award ballots

GARY Sanchez has jammed a lot of achievement into his first full month as a major leaguer. He has usurped Brian McCann as the Yankees’ starting catcher, won AL Player of the Week, set a bunch of Yankees records for fewest atbats to various homer levels and become the team’s regular No. 3 hitter.

So ponder this: If his September is akin to his August, could he become a factor in the AL Rookie of the Year race?

He almost certainly cannot win. Detroit’s Michael Fulmer has been so good he also will be part of the AL Cy Young discussion.

But in a generally underwhelming AL rookie crop, could Sanchez go from not in the majors on Aug. 2 to barging his way onto ballots (30 voters rank their top three choices)?

Among AL rookies, Fulmer leads by a wide distance in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 4.7 (using the Baseball Reference version). Minnesota outfielder Max Kepler is second ( 2.7), Houston swingman Chris Devenski is third (2.0), and though he has played just 19 games, Sanchez is tied for fourth (1.9) with relievers Ryan Dull (A’s) and Tony Barnette (Rangers). If Sanchez were to stay hot, he could finish second in the league in this category. Would voters honor a player who was great for a short period, or above-average for a longer stretch, such as outfielders Tyler Naquin (Indians) and Nomar Mazara (Rangers) or closer Edwin Diaz (Mariners)?

The most useful precedent for Sanchez is Willie McCovey. The Hall of Fame first baseman’s first game in 1959 was on July 30. He finished with 52 games and 219 plate appearances — similar to Sanchez’s projections. But he won Rookie of the Year unanimously despite a fantastic all-around season from Cincinnati’s Vada Pinson, likely because McCovey was so brilliant in his short stretch with 13 hom- ers and a 1.085 OPS, which is the rookie record for players with at least 200 plate appearances. Sanchez is at 1.297.

Kevin Maas of the Yankees did not play until June 29, 1990, but finished second in the AL Rookie race, in part by setting the quickest-to-(insert home run number) records Sanchez is breaking now. But if WAR were a prevalent statistic in 1990, Maas probably would have done worse because he was a poor defender and ordinary base runner. Sanchez is excelling on both sides of the ball, as is Houston’s Alex Bregman, who did not first play until July 25 and struggled initially before taking off lately.

If both Sanchez and Bregman continue to thrive, voters may have to decide how much playing time is enough to consider someone for Rookie of the Year. In fact, just about every question that bedevils award voting seems in play this year, such as: