MLB Awards Watch: Can Kris Bryant catch Joc Pederson?

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Joc Pederson, OF Los Angeles Dodgers – Pederson continues to be a statistical marvel. It isn’t every day that you see a player boasting a .233 batting average with a .370 (!) on-base percentage, and beyond that unusual profile, he leads all qualified MLB rookies in wRC+ (145) with 20 home runs and a .502 slugging. The 16.4% walk rate almost can’t be sustainable, but if Pederson can off-set that with a bump in batting average, a dip in overall production can be avoided.
2. Kris Bryant, 3B Chicago Cubs – The gap is closing. Pederson has been the runaway winner in this category for months, but Bryant is now nipping at his heels. In fact, Chicago’s golden boy now leads MLB rookies in fWAR (3.5), surpassing Pederson, and with a combination of power (12 HR), speed (8 SB) and quality defense to go along with surprising plate discipline, Bryant is the total package. He could legitimately turn this into a race over the next three months.
3. Matt Duffy, 3B San Francisco Giants – The 24-year-old Duffy doesn’t have the pedigree of Pederson and Bryant, but he is still playing quite well. Duffy holds a very solid 126 wRC+ in 71 games (263 PA), and thanks to above-average defense at the hot corner, he lands solidly in third place among NL rookies. A low walk rate (4.9%) caps his ceiling a bit, but the Giants may have unearthed a gem in Duffy.

Next: AL Rookie of the Year