MLB: Predicting the National League Rookie of the Year
The MLB season has come to an end, and many are looking forward to the playoff matchups. What will be interesting, too, will be when the awards season comes in the MLB world.
We have taken a look at some of the awards races. Today, we will look at the National League Rookie of the Year.
Similar to the American League, where Jose Abreu is having a monster, historic season, there should be a clear choice in the National League. In a season where the talent pool was low, one player emerged as a future star.
Some of these rookies even had to be sent back down to the minors because they struggled so much, then came back and then did better.
Just consider the home run totals of the top rookies. Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs is fifth on this list, and he did not come up until August 6th. He had nine home runs, by the way.
So, without any further delay, here are the top candidates for NL Rookie of the Year:
Joe Panik (.303/.342/.367)
Panik’s main problem in this race is that he was called up too late for most writers to seriously consider him. His first game was May 22nd, but that was just as a pinch hitter. He did not get his first start until a month later, June 22nd. Even so, he is one of the top rookie hitters in the National League.
Panik is a solid player, originally a shortstop who moved over to second base and will be there for some time to come. He was not on anyone’s Top-100 list, but is a fundamentally sound player who made the best of his opportunity.
Travis D’Arnaud (.242/.302/.416 13 HR 41 RBI)
D’Arnaud was bad when the season started. Really bad. When he was sent down in early June, he was hitting .180 and had a .544 OPS. He had to get his
head clear.
And clear his head he did.
Since returning to the majors two weeks later, D’Arnaud has hit .272/.319/.486 and knocked out 10 of his 13 home runs.
D’Arnaud has the third best OPS among rookies. He leads rookies in home runs and ranks second in doubles and RBI. His home runs total ranks fourth in the NL among all catchers
Defensively, D’Arnaud struggled. He threw out just 19 percent of would-be base stealers, well below the average of 28 percent. He had 12 passed balls, which led the league. If he continues his good hitting over his career, the Mets will not mind. They did, after all, have Mike Piazza behind the plate.
Had D’Arnaud not start so bad, we might be talking about him as the leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year. As it is, the Mets are happy to have a real good offensive MLB catcher.
Billy Hamilton (.250/.292/.355 48 RBI 56 SB)
Hal McCoy of FOXSPORTS.com wrote an article recently about Billy Hamilton. In hit he talks of Hamilton as a real-life version of the Willie Mays Hayes character in the movie Major League.
The comparison is right on. Both are skinny and fast, and hit the ball in the air
when they were supposed to hit it on the ground.
Many experts keep touting Hamilton for Rookie of the Year. The fact of the matter is that he is a pedestrian hitter, and he still does not know how to use his speed.
In the second half of the season, Hamilton’s batting average has hovered at .200. And that great speed of his? Well, after stealing 38 bases in the first half of the season, he swiped just 18 in the second half. He was caught stealing an astronomical 23 times.
Hamilton has used his speed well on defense. He gets to balls quickly, and he gets to the walls quickly to rob hitters of home runs. The latest victim was Ryan Braun last Wednesday. Hamilton paid for it, however, leaving the game after suffering a concussion from crashing the wall.
If Hamilton can keep the ball low (bunt a lot better), he has a shot to be a pretty potent player offensively. As of now, he will come in second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Jacob deGrom (9-6, 2.69 ERA, 144 K’s)
Jacob deGrom sure knows how to finish.
When he has two strikes on you, he can finish you out, striking out 144 batters in 140 1/3 innings (9.2 K’s per 9 innings).
In the last month of the of the season, he posted a 1.33 ERA, held hitters to a .457 OPS and a 38-to-6 strikeout to walk ratio.
He has been pretty good over the course of the season as well.
In the last three months of the season, deGrom has posted a 9-2 record with a 1.90 ERA. In his last 15 starts, his ERA is second only to Clayton Kershaw. He also didn’t give up an earned run in seven of his first 20 starts, which tied a major-league record that stood since 1914.
In his last 17 outings, deGrom has given up just TWO home runs. In his second to last start against the Miami Marlins, he struck out the first eight batters he faced.
All this for a player who is a converted shortstop, started the season in the minor leagues, came up as a reliever, and is now the ace of the New York Mets’ staff.
You can add National League Rookie of the Year to those accolades as well.
Many feel that this will be a close race between deGrom and Hamilton. I don’t know why. Hamilton is just an average player with great speed (which he had trouble using to full form), while deGrom is making history.
I don’t know how their careers will pan out, but for now, the clear cut winner in this race should be deGrom.
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