MLB Awards Watch: Top 5 NL ROY candidates thru May

With May now in the books for the 2016 MLB season, it is time to look at the top contenders for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

With two months now in the book, most “rookies” are technically no longer rookies. Major League Baseball no longer considers a player a rookie after they exceed 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched.

However, this is still considered the rookie season for these players.

After the first month of the season, Jordan Wevers ranked the top five Rookie of the Year candidates for the month of April. With a larger sample size now in the books, we have a bit of a better idea of how the rookies in the National League have fared in 2016.

While being the leading NL ROY contender maybe a great feeling at the end of May, it does not guarantee that the same player will be the leader among the pack to end the season.

Rookies may not have the same experience as a veteran, but don’t let that fool you. The rookies that will appear on this list have had as much impact as some of the better and more well-known players in the MLB.

Honorable mentions: Aledmys Diaz (STL), Jonathan Gray (COL), Junior Guerra (MIL)

Next: Dodgers Third Rookie

5. Trayce Thompson, LAD

.266/.333/.514, 7 HR, 1 SB, 131 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR

Trayce Thompson is likely used to being the forgotten one at this point. His brother, NBA superstar, Klay Thompson is in the middle of fighting for his second straight NBA championship. Trayce, himself, was never a top ranked prospect rising through the minors.

The younger Thompson has also been buried behind two other Dodgers rookies this season in statistics and in the minds of baseball experts.

That has not stopped Thompson from producing this season. After a slow start to the season, Thompson was actually the best Dodgers hitter in the month of May, posting a .270/.352/.603 slash line, besting even the great Corey Seager

His 158 wRC+ led the Dodgers for the month and it ranked 18th in all of baseball for the month. Thompson blasted six home runs with a .333 ISO for the month of May overall.

Thompson has forced the Los Angeles Dodgers to give him more playing time this season and there is no reason he should not continue to have success with that playing time.

While he may not even be the best rookie on his own team, he has to be the biggest revelation for the Dodgers in 2016.

Next: What a Story

4. Trevor Story, COL

.266/.333/.514, 14 HR, 3 SB, 115 wRC+, 1.1 fWAR

Story began the first chapter of his rookie season with a bang, hitting seven home runs in his first 28 plate appearances, in his first week in the major leagues. His wRC+ during that span was an unbelievable 269.

Since that time, Story has not been quite the same hitter, but he has certainly held his own as a major league short stop that can hit for power.

In his next 195 plate appearances since the hot start, Story owns a .249/.313/.480 slash line, good for a 93 wRC+. His biggest woe has been his near 35 percent strikeout rate, something he will need to work on and improve on as he continues his career.

However, the power is still there for the 23-year old. His .232 ISO is quite impressive for any position player, let alone a short stop, where offense is usually luxury.

Story is actually outperforming the man he replaced, Troy Tulowitzki and has proved as an adequate replacement for the former Rockies superstar.

As we have already seen, Story is more than capable of getting hot, especially at Coors Field, and making a run at the top spot for the NL ROY voting at any time this season.

Next: Another Dodger

3. Kenta Maeda, LAD

57 IP, 4-3, 3.00 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 51 SO, 1.1 WAR

Kenta Maeda was the hands-on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year after his first major league month, appearing first on Wevers’ rankings just a month ago. However, a slow month of May caused Maeda to slip for number one to three.

Maeda posted a 5.04 ERA and a 4.40 FIP in 25 May innings. He averaged just five innings per outing after averaging over six in his first month.

The biggest dip in his performance was in his control. After walking just six in his 32 innings in April, Maeda walked 11 in 25 innings in May. He also hit two batters in the month of May, compared to one in April.

Maeda also allowed three home runs in May as opposed to two in April.

Overall, May was not a disastrous month for a rookie, but not what the Dodgers expected when they signed him to a mega-sized deal out of Japan this past off-season.

Luckily for Maeda, the month of May is now behind him and he can build on his April success to keep pace with the top Rookies in the National League. He still has a chance to steal the award from the top contenders when it is all said and done.

Next: Matz Surges

2. Steven Matz, NYM

55.1 IP, 7-1, 2.60 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 53 SO, 1.5 WAR

Steven Matz did not get off to a good start to the 2016 season. In his first start of the season against the Marlins, he allowed 7 earned runs on 6 hits, with two walks and just one strikeout. It was the lone loss of the season.

Since then, Matz owns a 1.51 ERA and a 2.53 FIP 53 2/3 innings of work. He has struck out 52 and walked just 9 in that span. In eight of those four starts, Matz has exited the game with allowing a single run.

In addition to striking out nearly 9 per start, Matz owns a 55.8 groundball rate, which reduces the chances of him allowing more home runs on flyballs.

In an impressive Mets rotation, Matz has a strong claim to being the second best starter, behind Noah Syndergaard, the first two months of the season.

Most season, the season Steven Matz is off to would propel him to the top of the list for Rookie of the Year honors, however, this is not a normal season with normal rookies.

Although this does not rule Matz out from continuing his torrid rookie season and stealing the award at the end of the season.

Next: Seager Fever