Rookie of the Year: Who takes home the NL award?

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 03: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after scoring on Ozzie Albies #1 RBI double in the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 3, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Atlanta Braves defeated the New York Mets 2-1. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

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Cardinals Starting Pitcher /

Jack Flaherty

Probably the least famous member of a ridiculous Harvard Westlake High School pitching staff, Jack Flaherty is beginning to make a name for himself in 2018.

Flaherty was drafted at the back of the first round in 2014 with only modest expectations, but he has gotten off to a better start to his career than his high school teammates, Lucas Giolito and Max Fried. He has dominated the National League this year with his excellent mix of four quality pitches. None of his pitches are particularly nasty, but he mixes his pitches well and gets good extension toward the plate which allows his velocity to play up. This has taken all of Flaherty’s stuff to another level giving him one of the top strikeout rates in all of baseball.

He is second among NL rookies in strikeout rate and K-BB%, which are two of the best indicators of pitching performance. He also does a good job at keeping the ball on the ground and has an inflated home run per fly ball rate which suggests he has been unlucky as far as keeping the ball in the park.

If Flaherty’s first full season is any indication, he is going to be a fixture in the Cardinals rotation for the next several years and may even develop into one of the league’s best starting pitchers.

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