Red Sox Anthony or A's Wilson: Who Will Finish Behind Nick Kurtz in AL ROY Voting?

Still, he's posted a .317 batting average, second only to MVP front-runner Aaron Judge's .326, while holding a .359 OBP and an .814 OPS. Wilson has 13 home runs, 59 runs scored and 59 RBI on the season, and has struck out just 36 times. He's a true throwback with a little extra pop.

Boston's Anthony, 21, played in 71 games before suffering an oblique injury that is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the regular season. In that time, he hit .292 with a .396 OBP and an .859 OPS, collecting eight home runs, 32 RBI and 48 runs scored.

These are solid numbers, and Red Sox fans should be thrilled with having him on the roster moving forward. But in terms of who was a better player in 2025, the edge should go to Wilson.

Not only is he in range of securing the batting title—a feat that has been accomplished by a rookie all of twice since 1900—but he's also racked up more playing time and put up a higher average, home run total, RBI total and run total. For those wondering, Tony Oliva and Ichiro Suzuki are the two rookies to have won the batting title as a rookie. Both players are in the Hall of Fame.

The difference in their OPS isn't astronomical, either, so it's not like Anthony was the clear-cut better player when they were both on the field, and Wilson's games played should provide him an edge, much the same way that a pitcher with more innings will give them the nod in a tight Cy Young race.

If you'd prefer to go by wRC+, Anthony holds the edge, but again, it's in fewer games, which means fewer opportunities to have a slump. Wilson had his slump and has worked through it. The Sox star put up a 138 (100 is league average) wRC+, while Wilson is right behind him with a 125.

In terms of fWAR, it's Wilson that has the edge with a 3.2, compared to Anthony's 2.7. With a week and a half left in the season, Wilson can still improve upon those outputs, too.

One area that Anthony does have a more clear advantage is with the defense he provided in the outfield, totaling +6 Outs Above Average (+4 in right, +2 in left), while the A's rookie has put up a -3 at shortstop.

What we can all agree upon is that these two players should probably place in second and third in some order. Leiter, the other player mentioned, has totaled a 3.82 ERA (4.13 FIP) across 139 innings of work. The league average ERA this season is 4.18, so he has been a little ahead of that pace. Noah Cameron of the Kansas City Royals has 127 innings of work and holds a 2.98 ERA as a rookie.