Bryant, Kang leading NL Rookie of the Year race
We’re getting up on the homestretch of the 2015 major-league season, so let’s continue to look at where the major postseason hardware appears to be headed at this moment. On Tuesday, we look at the Rookie of the Year candidates, before moving to the Cy Young candidates Wednesday, and the MVPs of each league on Thursday. We looked at the Manager of the Year race for the AL and the NL on Monday.
As we’ve done in the past in this very space, these snapshots of where the individual awards races currently stand aren’t how we would necessarily vote and are instead predictions of what would happen, given the recent history of the BBWAA voting body.
Let’s run down the NL Rookie of the Year race as it appears to stand on Aug. 25, 2015.
[Players listed alphabetically within categories]
Kris Bryant isn’t going away when it comes to the NL Rookie of the Year race. (USATSI)
| FRONT-RUNNERS |
The Cubs’ 23-year-old star has heated up in recent days. He’s now at 20 homers for the season, and he owns a slash line of .262/.366/.481. As well, among rookies only Joc Pederson has played in more games. Given the hype that preceded his arrival and given the Cubs’ prominent presence in the sport’s consciousness, Bryant may be the frontrunner right now, especially if a 25-homer season is in the offing.
Kang’s batting .288/.365/.459 in 395 plate appearances, and voters intuit that he’s playing in a tougher offensive environment than Bryant is. Also, Kang’s spent more than 400 defensive innings at third base and almost 400 innings at shortstop. With Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison missing significant chunks of the season, Kang’s steady bat and flexibility in the infield has been essential to the Pirates this season.
| IN THE MIX |
Duffy’s been a somewhat quietly valuable member of the contending Giants this season. He’s spent time at four different infield positions (although he’s primarily been a third baseman), and along the way he’s put up a line of .308/.345/.460 with 10 homers, five triples, and 23 doubles in 111 games while also running the bases well.
Joc Pederson, Dodgers
Pederson’s case is an interesting one. He’s the rare rookie, in that he’s been a regular for a contender since Opening Day, so he’s racked up the most playing time of any rook. He’s also got impressive overall numbers: .798 OPS while playing a solid center field. On the other side of things, recent trends are working against Pederson. Since July 1, Pederson has put up a batting line of .154/.302/.269. That deep decline down the stretch, unless Pederson arrests it, won’t be lost on voters.
A strong finish to the season, and Syndergaard will rejoin the frontrunners for the award. Right now, his “merely” good numbers don’t quite keep him at that level. He checks in with an ERA of 3.17 after 18 starts, and he backs it up with a strong K/BB ratio of 4.50. He leads all NL rookie pitchers in strikeouts. Working against him, though, may be his struggles on the road, which have been getting more attention in the press lately.
| ON THE PERIPHERY |
Franco’s been quite impressive this season. As the Phils’ regular third baseman, he’s batted .277/.340/.490 with 13 homers in 77 games. Unfortunately, Franco is likely to miss the remainder of the season with a fractured wrist. As such, he’s not going to be winning the award.
Grichuk lags the serious contenders when it comes to playing time, but his numbers are highly impressive. In 85 games, he’s batted .284/.333/.561 with 43 extra base hits and time spent at all three outfield positions. Grichuk can still mount a charge, but he needs to get back from his elbow strain and finish the season on a tear.
Chris Heston, Giants
Heston’s more than “just” a rookie no-hitter. His 145 2/3 innings leads all NL rookies, and over that span he’s pitched to an ERA of 3.34. He lacks Syndergaard’s long-term ceiling and attention, but frankly there’s not much separating their 2015 performances.
The good: Jungmann boasts a 2.66 ERA, and he’s allowed just 0.3 homers per nine innings. The bad: He’s pitched just 84 2/3 innings over 14 starts. A dominant finish puts him more squarely in the discussion, but the light workload is not in his favor.
Kyle Schwarber, Cubs
Schwarber’s been the NL’s most impressive rookie hitter on a rate basis, as he’s raked a slash line of .284/.382/.575. However, that’s been over a span of just 40 games and 157 plate appearances. He’s no doubt going to be a fixture in the Cubs’ lineup the rest of the way, so if he continues producing at such a high clip then he’ll climb the rankings. Likely, though, he’s just not going to have enough playing time to prevail in such a strong year for NL rookies.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
