Last year's National League Rookie of the Year race was historic, as Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio were all finalists, with the Pittsburgh Pirates' hurler walking away with the award. Shota Imanaga wasn't even named a finalist despite performing like an All-Star as a rookie. This year, the race might not include as many big names, but it certainly projects to be interesting. In fact, despite only making five starts for the Milwaukee Brewers, Jacob Misiorowski has taken over the lead in MLB.com's latest ballot update.
"Based on his first career start, Misiorowski got one first-place vote a month ago. Now at five, and coming off an All-Star selection, he's shot all the way to the top. It's early, yes, but after seeing what Paul Skenes did last year, our voters were probably even more inclined to quickly buy into what Misiorowski is doing. If you subtract his one clunker -- a five-run, 3 2/3 IP outing against the Mets on July 2 -- he's otherwise gone 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 0.68 WHIP and struck out 31 of the 79 batters he's faced (39.2%), and tiny as that sample size is, an arm this electric is impossible to ignore."
Misiorowski needed only five starts to make the NL All-Star team (controversially), and now, those same five outings appear to be good enough to give him a commanding lead for the NL Rookie of the Year award. Misiorowski has 19 first-place votes while Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin sits in second place with nine first-place votes.
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Jacob Misiorowski has taken MLB.com's Rookie of the Year lead in improbable fashion
There's no disputing that Misiorowski has been the most impressive rookie in the sport this season, and by a substantial margin. In his five starts, he has a 2.81 ERA and has struck out 33 batters in 25.2 innings of work. Command has been an issue at times, as it has been throughout his minor league career, but hitters have a .138 average against him. The walks have seldom come back to bite him.
With that being said, five starts are five starts. Sure, Misiorowski entered the league as a top prospect and has shown few signs that he won't be able to sustain his hot start, but that doesn't change the fact that it's incredibly rare to give a guy with five starts under his belt through the first three-and-a-half months of the season a substantial Rookie of the Year lead, especially when there are a pair of other deserving candidates.
Pair of NL East catchers are disrespected in latest MLB.com Rookie of the Year voting update
Drake Baldwin has been one of the few bright spots for the struggling Atlanta Braves and has all but forced his way into their lineup on most nights despite the presence of Sean Murphy. Agustin Ramirez has his share of defensive concerns and doesn't walk much, but his power is undeniable, as evidenced by his 14 home runs in just 71 games played.
Baldwin is tied for second among all qualified NL rookies with a 133 WRC+, and he leads the pack with 1.9 fWAR. Ramirez leads all NL rookies in home runs and RBI. Yes, Misiorowski has impressed in five starts, but Baldwin and Ramirez have made substantial impacts with their respective teams virtually all season long. At the end of the day, volume does matter.
Misiorowski deserves to be in the conversation, and if he finishes the season as well as he started it, sure, he probably deserves to win the award. Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that the voters are ignoring the work Baldwin and Ramirez have done thus far.