National League Rookie of the Year: Five early candidates
Is the National League Rookie of the Year award Cody Bellinger’s to lose? What rookie can challenge him for the award?
We are less than a month away from the All-Star Game (if you can believe it). Teams are jockeying for position as we get closer and closer to the trade deadline. One thing teams will evaluate is whether or not to call up a top prospect to help the team or make a move for someone outside the organization for help.
With that, the National League Rookie of the Year race could get a little more crowded, especially now that we have passed the Super Two deadline.
If you’re a fan of a team in the National League West, you are seeing a wave of young talent come up and play roles on every team so far this season.
In the Central, the Cubs have again called up a top prospect to help their offense, while the Pirates have given one of their young bats a chance to be a part of the club moving forward.
In the East, everyone thought Dansby Swanson would be the runaway winner for this award, but he has not gotten off to the best of starts so far. Nationals reliever Koda Glover has battled injuries in his rookie year out of the bullpen.
This list could change come the end of the season. Could Amed Rosario finally come up and play shortstop for the Mets? Who of the Phillies’ top prospects will get the call? Could Alex Verdugo come up and help the Dodgers?
As it stands now, here are five candidates for National League Rookie of the Year award.
1B/OF Cody Bellinger – Los Angeles Dodgers
What Aaron Judge has done for the New York Yankees has been remarkable thus far. Cody Bellinger is doing his best imitation of Judge for the Dodgers as a big left-handed power bat to go along with last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, Corey Seager.
Bellinger leads all NL rookies with 18 homers, 40 RBI and a .942 OPS. Bellinger even became the first lefty to homer off Andrew Miller since last September earlier this week.
He’s got that sweet, left-handed Ken Griffey Jr.-like swing and has made a huge impact on the Dodgers for not only the amount of homers he’s hit, but homers in big situations like the one above.
In a year where Adrian Gonzalez has spent time on the DL for the first time in his career, and guys like Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles and Andre Ethier have all been hurt, turning to Bellinger for some left-handed pop has been a huge reason the Dodgers are right there in the National League West again.
1B Josh Bell – Pittsburgh Pirates
The 24-year-old first baseman was given a chance to play for the Pirates toward the end of last season. Even though he was slowed this spring recovering from knee surgery, Josh Bell has picked it up offensively and has showed why he was a second round pick back in 2011.
Bell is hitting just .238 this season, but his .785 OPS ranks fifth among NL rookies. His 30 RBI are third among rookies, and his 12 homers also rank third among National League rookies. He’s fourth in OBP and second in walks.
The Pirates are trying to hang on in the NL Central race and Bell has had a lot to do with it offensively. He’s first in homers, second in RBI and fourth in OPS among regulars for the Pirates thus far this season.
If they do decide to deal Andrew McCutchen at some point, Bell has the potential to be a part of the core of the next great Pirates team with Starling Marte and other prospects coming up soon. The Pirates shouldn’t have to worry about first base for years to come.
OF Hunter Renfroe – San Diego Padres
As the great San Diego Padres rebuild begins again after going for it two years ago and falling flat, the Padres are building around a young core of position players. Wil Myers is the face of the team at first base and was given a big extension over the offseason.
The Padres finally gave Austin Hedges the keys to the catching position and he’s been one of the best defensively in the game. They also gave two of the starting outfield positions to two rookies in Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe.
Renfroe came up last season after a remarkable AAA campaign. He showed off his power and has continued to do so thus far this year.
Renfroe’s 15 homers are second among rookies, as are his 34 RBI. He needs to work on making more consistent contact (he leads all rookies with 72 strikeouts) and taking a walk (his OBP of .278 is next-to-last among rookies), but he will get the chance to develop his game at the major league level.
He was the Padres’ first round pick in 2013 and is just 25 years old. If that part of his game develops, the Padres could have a nice, powerful right fielder to build around as the other talent in their farm system continues to grow.
P Antonio Senzatela – Colorado Rockies
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The key to the resurgence of the Colorado Rockies this season has been the fact that not only do they have starting pitching, but they’ve been able to develop their own starters. Their rookie pitching class has been the most productive in the game, and this has been without Jon Gray and Chad Bettis.
One of those arms is right-hander Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011 and the 22-year-old didn’t even pitch in AAA last season and made just seven starts in AA last year.
Senzatela leads all NL rookies in wins with nine, starts (14), innings (83) and strikeouts (60).
He only threw 34.2 innings last season so you have to wonder when he will hit his innings limit this year, but the Rockies should have enough depth to counter that and even move Senzatela to the bullpen if need be.
P Kyle Freeland – Colorado Rockies
If it wasn’t for what Senzatela is doing for the Rockies, along with Jeff Hoffman and German Marquez, maybe Kyle Freeland would be looked at as the best rookie pitcher in the National League thus far.
Unlike Senzatela, Freeland was the Rockies’ first round pick back in 2014. Freeland reached AAA last season and was 6-3 in 12 starts for Albuquerque. He threw a combined 162 innings between AA and AAA last season, so he may not be on an innings limit this season.
Freeland is second in wins with seven, but his 3.57 ERA ranks first among rookie starters and only Reds reliever Wandy Peralta has a better ERA among all NL rookie pitchers. Freeland is not a big strikeout guy. He has only 47 strikeouts in 75.2 innings thus far this year. He’s second in innings pitched and fifth in strikeouts.
Next: Odds for Phillies' promotion candidates
This could change by the end of the season, but as things stand right now, these are your five leading contenders for the National League Rookie of the Year award. Ian Happ could certainly force his way into the conversation, as could other prospects who aren’t even in the bigs yet.
This award is Bellinger’s to lose, but if he falters, there are plenty of players who could take home the award.