Baseball by the numbers: Words on Wisdom

Rookie seasons with big, flashy home-run numbers are a young player’s domain.

By the time you get to 29-year-old rookies, even the seven hit by the Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom constitute a big number — for a whole season.

Of the 30 rookie seasons with 30 or more home runs, 28 were by players 25 or younger. The White Sox’ Jose Abreu was one of the exceptions when he hit 36 at 27 in 2014, his first season after leaving Cuba. The other exception was Walt Dropo, 27 when he slugged a then-record 34 in 1950.

Pete Alonso was 24 when he homered 53 times in 2019, breaking the rookie record set by Aaron Judge at 25 two seasons earlier. Before Judge, the record of 49 was set by 23-year-old Mark McGwire in 1987.

It’s different with a 29-year-old rookie. One hot streak has put Wisdom in a tie for 54th-most homers by a rookie 29 or older. Should he get to 10, he’d climb into a 28th-place tie.

Whether this is his one shining moment or whether he can contribute for a longer period, Wisdom has given the Cubs a boost. That includes his two homers Sunday that led to a 4-3 victory against the Giants.

Wisdom’s gaudy .412/.444/1.088 slash line has the “it’s early” sheen that comes with 36 plate appearances. Nonetheless, he has provided value. His 1.1 wins above replacement as calculated at Fangraphs.com stand fourth among Cubs position players behind Kris Bryant (2.7), Willson Contreras (1.4) and Javy Baez (1.3).

Wisdom has bounced around the minor leagues since he was drafted by the Cardinals in 2012. He has displayed power with a high of 31 home runs for Triple-A Memphis in 2017, but in the majors had only brief stays with 58 PAs for the Cardinals in 2018 and 28 for the Rangers in 2019.

Many of the rookies atop the 29-and-older home-run leaderboard have far different stories. Luke Easter, the leader with 28 in 1950 at 34, was a Negro Leagues veteran held up by the color line even after Jackie Robinson became the first Black major-leaguer in 1947. The same goes for Sam Jethroe (18 in 1950 at 33), Monte Irvin (15 in 1950 at 31) and the Cubs’ Gene Baker (13 in 1954 at 29).

Bobby Darwin, originally a pitcher, made one appearance for the Angels in 1961, then resurfaced to pitch three games for the Dodgers in 1969. In the minors, he switched to the outfield, then hit 22 home runs as a 29-year-old rookie for the Twins in 1971. Only Easter homered more as a 29-and-up rookie.

In modern times, we see international players rank high among older rookies. Yuli Gurriel (18 at 33) played in Cuba and Japan, and Kenji Johjima (18 at 30), Hideki Matsui (16 at 29) and the Sox’ Tadahito Iguchi (15 at 30) all played in Japan.

Their path was not Wisdom’s. Few who have his extended minor-league career have lasting MLB success.