Blog Red Machine Talks NL Rookie of the Year

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Prepare for a close vote for NL ROY.

It will certainly be an interesting race for the National League Rookie of the Year. Last year, Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals took home the honor (pictured above), much to the dismay of many within the Reds fanbase. This season, the Reds don’t have a viable candidate as they did last season, but that’s not to say there won’t be some Twitter barbs thrown over this.

When I posed this to the gang, the first comment, which was provided by Jesse, takes the stance I believe many hold.

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Jesse: Anybody but Fernandez or Puig seems far-fetched.

I mean, can you think of any others that could logically fit here? At first, I couldn’t, and I wasn’t alone.

Steve: Those were the two I thought of as well. Depends on if you prefer a position player or a pitcher I suppose.

Torry: Agree with Jesse. Hot-headed Puig put up some impressive numbers in a shortened season. Fernandez also looks good.

Puig, hot-headed? Nah…

John: José Fernandez is the more impressive choice, in my opinion. Given the “caliber” (or the lack thereof) of the team that surrounds him, accomplishing what he did with the Marlins outweighs what I saw Puig do for a far-better Dodgers squad. It doesn’t diminish Puig into the future as a super talent, but I pick Fernandez for 2013 as the ROY.

So we’ll start with Jose Fernandez (12-6, 2.19 ERA, 0.979 WHIP in 172.2 IP). As John said, he has certainly impressed. I thought of this. Remember last season when former Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said Giancarlo Stanton was the only reason to go to Marlins games? This year, it was Fernandez…clearly. You feel like he was the Marlins before being shut down.

And that shutdown creates an advantage for Yasiel Puig (.325/.395/.546, 19 HR, 42 RBI in 372 AB). He’s stayed in the minds of those that cast the votes while Fernandez has simply donned a uniform for no other reason than to watch the Marlins play. You know the saying: out of sight, out of mind.

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, Puig has taken his fair share of criticism (poor base running, poor decision-making in the field, “maturity” issues), but there isn’t a single person that could (or should) deny not just his talent, but what his presence meant to the Dodgers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Puig get some slight MVP consideration (9th or 10th place votes).

That doesn’t necessarily translate in the ROY talk though.

But I took a few minutes – as that’s literally all it took – to develop a list of no less than seven other players that at least deserve a mention. Sure, none of these seven are likely to walk away with the prize, but someone will have the “honor” of saying he finished behind the duo of Fernandez and Puig in the NL voting.

– Matt Adams, St. Louis (.285/.337/.511, 17 HR, 51 RBI in 284 AB)
– Shelby Miller, St. Louis (15-9, 3.06 ERA, 1.206 WHIP in 173.1 IP)
– Seth Maness, St. Louis (5-2, 2.35 ERA, 1.272 WHIP in 61.1 IP)
– Trevor Rosenthal, St. Louis (2-4, 2.66 ERA, 1.090 WHIP, 3 SV)
– Julio Teheran, Atlanta (13-8, 3.09 ERA, 1.173 WHIP in 180.2 IP)
– Hyun-jin Ryu, Los Angeles (14-7, 2.97 ERA, 1.181 WHIP in 188 IP)
– Gerrit Cole, Pittsburgh (10-7, 3.22 ERA, 1.168 WHIP in 117.1 IP)

It’s not a matter so much as who wins, but who gets third. We know who the two guys that will take first and second. Just don’t know the order.

And the last of our quick talk was something I simply couldn’t avoid.

Steve: Thought I’d throw this in just for fun…Billy Hamilton leads all NL rookies in steals (13).

Just had to.

So who’s your pick?

(The results of the poll will be a vote in BRM’s annual awards voting which will occur in October.)