(Every week we will take a look at one award and break down the race on who we think the favorites are. One week we will breakdown MOY, the next week ROY, following week MVP. And then we keep rotating until the voting is done at the end of season)
Last August, the Savages Tom Kahl (unanimous) and Dynasty’s Adrian Polanco (50% of the votes) ran away with the 2019 American League and National League Rookie of the Year awards, respectively. Every year we see a ton of new talented players, but a few are truly special on the field players that change the fortunes of their ball clubs.
Tom Kahl was the heavy favorite in the AL from day one last year and did not disappoint with .679avg/1.75ops/6hr/42rbi/36runs. In the NL, Adrian had to beat out a few candidates but secured the award with .569avg/1.54ops/4hr/25rbi/18runs. Who are the contenders this year? Let’s take a look at who is standing out thru the first 3 weeks of the season as we are about a quarter of the way done thru the season.
1. NARISH RAMOUTAR (Black Mambas)
.688avg/2.347ops/2HR/10r/14rbis
Thru the first three weeks the top spot has been a dead heat between Narish and Vincent. For now, we are going with Narish as the most impressive rookie. He leads the Rookies in OPS and RBIs. He’s been a force in the middle of the Mambas lineup as well as playing a stellar infield. If he continues at this pace, Mambas management gets huge credit for signing such an impressive player. Now with Dan and others signed for rest of season, Narish will play a huge role in driving in runs rest of season.
2. VINCENT FLORIDO (MonStars)
.684avg/2.024ops/3HR/12r/13rbis
Vincent has taken the league by storm with his power hitting display as well as his play at SS. His personality is also not what we expected from a member of MonStars and that may be a good thing to liven up that team. They need a little bit of swag. He may soon find himself at the top of the rankings if he continues to rake like this. He leads all rookies in home runs and runs scored. Some pitchers are already starting to walk him to make others in the lineup beat them, but we will see how long that works.
3. VIVEK SUKUMARAN (Hit Squad)
.727/1.714ops/1HR/4r/9rbis
Vivek has played less games (4 games) than the top 2 guys but his stats are still very impressive. Vivek makes his debut with the veteran Hit Squad and is already making his mark. A high batting average albeit with only 1 extra base hit so far which was a home run. Without the pop, he will need maintain his rookie leading batting average and counting stats to have a shot at the award. Will Hit Squad be able to find enough at bats for him to rack up the stats with as deep a team as they have?
4. AARON FRANKLIN (Black Mambas)
.650avg/1.469ops/10r/11rbis
The second Black Mamba to appear on our list. Ayaz and co. has done a masterful job recruiting new players. Aaron is a mainstay in the middle of Mamba lineup and has been driving in runs in bunches. His defense/pitching has been subpar so far, which will need to improve for him to catch the rest of the guys ahead of him. Defense can separate the upper tier of rookies and Aaron needs to come to his own on that front.
5. JATENDAR SINGH (The North)
.571avg/1.576ops/1HR/9r/3rbis
Jito has done a very good job at the bottom of North lineup to get on base to keep the lineup moving. In the North’s league best offense, Jito scores almost every time he gets on base. His defense is a very big work in progress, however. As the season progresses, we will see if there are more improvement there. In a deep North bench, he may also be crunched in at bats so the counting stats may suffer. So far, so good for him.
[Just missed the cut: Aash Sharma (DadBods): .471avg/1.088ops/5r/3rbis]
