NL Rookie of the Year Award Down to Two Players?
Photo: Fernando Tatis Jr.
Orlando Ramirez/USA Today Sports
Before yesterday, the National League Rookie of the Year award race has pretty much been between three players. Mike Soroka (Atlanta Braves), Pete Alonso (New York Mets), and Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres have all had excellent seasons thus far and are all well deserving of the National League Rookie of the Year. But yesterday the San Diego Padres placed Tatis Jr. on the disabled list with a stress reaction in his back. That was a tough pill to swallow for the team’s leading hitter, but even tougher now that they say he is most likely done for the rest of the 2019 season.
Without a doubt, missing the final month and a half will basically end Tatis’s chance at winning the NL Rookie of the Year, especially with Soroka and Alonso both having sensational years. What has been a very fun three-player race for the coveted award looks to have turned into a two player race between rookies on division-rival teams. Before I go on any further, let’s take a look at all three players’ numbers up to this point:
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Batting Average: .317
On-Base Percentage: .379
On-Base + Slugging Percentage: .969
Home Runs: 22
RBI: 53
Stolen Bases: 16
Pete Alonso
Batting Average: .263
On-Base Percentage: .368
On-Base + Slugging Percentage: .960
Home Runs: 39
RBI: 91
Stolen Bases: 1
Mike Soroka
Wins: 10
Losses: 2
ERA: 2.41
WHIP: 1.10
Strikeouts: 107
Quality Starts: 15
Tatis’s stats clearly speak for themselves. He is a 5-tool player and will be very good in this league for a long time. But with him unfortunately now on the shelf for most likely the remainder of the season, let’s take a closer look at the other two candidates.
Photo: Mike Soroka
Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images
Mike Soroka has been exactly what the Braves needed and more. They’ve been looking at adding a front-line starter for a while, but it turns out they already had one in budding-star Mike Soroka, at only 22 years old. On the season, he is tied for 2nd across the major leagues in ERA (2.41) behind Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu. The player he’s currently tied with? Max Scherzer. Scherzer and Soroka have both pitched 134 innings this year, with Soroka recording one more out. That tells you almost everything you need to know right there. But let’s keep looking into it.
Other pitchers Mike Soroka is currently ahead of in ERA are Clayton Kershaw (2.63), Jacob DeGrom (2.68), Justin Verlander (2.81), and Gerrit Cole (2.87). Those are some big time names. I also like to look at quality starts when determining a pitcher’s success, rather than wins since wins take into consideration factors that have absolutely no bearing on the pitcher’s performance. Quality starts are given when a starting pitcher throws at least six innings and gives up three earned runs or fewer. Soroka is currently tied for 16th across the MLB with 15 quality starts on the season.
The other phenomenal rookie resides in the same division and has been perhaps the best thing about the New York Mets this season. Pete Alonso earned the starting first base job at the beginning of the season and has consistently been a force in the middle of their lineup all season long. He had some expectations due to his power potential, but he has far and away surpassed all realistic expectation placed on him.
Photo: Pete Alonso
Wendell Cruz/USA Today Sports
The first thing you have to talk about with Alonso is his raw power. He currently has 39 home runs on the season, which is tied with Christian Yelich and behind only Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger at 41 apiece. With 39, he is tied for the all-time National League record for homers by a rookie and still has a month and a half left to add on to that total. He is almost guaranteed to break the Mets’ single-season home run record, which Carlos Beltran and Todd Hundley share. Alonso also has 91 RBIs this season, which is tied for 9th best across the MLB, only 7 RBIs behind leaders Josh Bell and Freddie Freeman. It will be really fun to see what type of numbers Alonso can add on between now and October.
It’s such a shame that Tatis went down with his injury because his numbers rivaled the other two players in this ROY race. But now with it being between two phenomenal players in Alonso and Soroka, the race should be just as run to keep track of. A guy who’s season ERA is parallel to Max Scherzer’s and better that Jacob DeGrom’s vs. a guy who will probably end up with 45-50 home runs and around 110 RBIs. You really can’t go wrong with either choice.
Garett