On July 31, the day of the trade deadline, Kalish got his call to the bigs at 2:30 p.m. First pitch was scheduled for 4:10 p.m. His frantic scramble to get to Fenway Park was only the beginning of a very busy day.
Kalish got the start that day in left field, having to learn the quirks of the Green Monster on the fly. He recorded his first putout in the top of the third, and he led off the bottom of the inning with his first hit, a ball smacked between the first and second basemen. In his second at-bat, he hit the ball harder, but it was right at Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who turned an easy double play.
That was no issue for Kalish, who singled in his next at-bat and drove in his first run. A couple of pitches later, he scampered home from first to score for the first time. By the end of the day, he was jumping up and down in celebration of a walk-off double by David Ortiz.
Since then, AL teams have had a hard time slowing Kalish down.
His average dropped below .300 this week for the first time, as he played in all but two games since his call-up. He's also moved over to center field, which is no small task at Fenway. Along the way, he homered in his first trip to Yankee Stadium — leading to a Red Sox win — and he hit a grand slam against the Angels, blowing open a 1-0 game in the fourth.
He's been invaluable as the Sox scrape to stay alive in the AL East, but in doing so, he is effectively killing his chances of winning the AL Rookie of the Year award.
With 54 at-bats under his belt heading into Thursday's game, and with Cameron done for the year and Ellsbury likely gone as well, Kalish is all but guaranteed to reach the 130 at-bat mark that would make him ineligible for the award in 2011. Given that he can only play in 55 or so games will most likely keep him out of the running this year.
Yet while he may not play enough to win the award, has he done enough to at least earn some votes?
He might have a case. No, his stats won't compare to Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson (.302 average through 111 games played), and Neftali Feliz (29 saves, 0.99 WHIP in 50-plus innings) has impressed the entire league with his heater. Brennan Boesch, too, has opened eyes with his 14 homers, and Wade Davis will likely get some consideration.
Kalish won't be able to compete with those players because he won't have enough experience. He may accomplish enough to earn some recognition, though.
It would be somewhat unprecedented but not completely ludicrous. Ryan Howard won the NL award in 2005 after having played just 88 games. That same year, Jeff Francouer finished third in voting after playing just 70 games, and in 2004, the Royals' John Buck finished eighth in voting after hitting just .235 in 71 games.
Ultimately, finishing in ninth place in Rookie of the Year voting may not mean a whole lot, but it's always a nice accomplishment for any player to earn. Do you think Kalish will have earned it by October?
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