(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. VINCENT FLORIDO (MonStars)
.703avg/1.982ops/5HR/24r/24rbis
Vinny leapfrogs Narish in our latest Rookie of the Year watch by the closest of margins. They have almost identical stats and are phenomenal defenders at the SS position. Vinny gets the slight edge in the counting stats and also a little boost with his team having a better record. This is as close as it gets. Vinny’s leading MonStars in his Rookie season and have them primed for a good seed come playoff time.
2. NARISH RAMOUTAR (Black Mambas)
.707avg/1.954ops/2HR/20r/22rbis
Narish didn’t do anything to lose a spot in the latest awards watch. He has been his consistent dominant self all season. With 5 weeks of games left, if he can keep doing what he has, the voters will have a tough choice. The high average along with Mambas lethal offense should be a good marriage for the rest of the season.
3. ANDY SANCHEZ (Dothrakis)
.703avg/1.799ops/2HR/16r/22rbis
Andy is one of the three (!) Dothrakis guys on this list. Amazing recruiting by the Dothrakis. If you haven’t seen him play, go and treat yourself. He has all 5 tools, and the best being his arm which has hosed down a few baserunners already this year. We expect his counting jumpers to increase as we go into the second half of the season as he gets more comfortable with the League.
4. JUSTIN SEVILLA (Dothrakis)
.514avg/1.645ops/4HR/17r/23rbis
We were wondering who would be playing shortstop for Dothrakis in light of Hashim’s injury. Enter Justin. Justin may not be as good as a player at Hashim at his best, but who is? Justin has more than held his own on defense as a fundamentally sound player. And his bat at the top of the lineup has been really good. He has speed as evidenced by the 4 inside the park homer runs.
5. PABLO SANCHEZ (Dothrakis)
.535avg/1.476ops/2HR/17r/19rbis
Our top 5 Rookie of the Year candidates so far (just our opinion) goes to Pablo Sanchez. The third Dothraki on the list. He is another 5 tool player (albeit a lot less pop than his brother Andy). Pablo has been holding down the fort at RCF all season. There was a lot of hype of the Sanchez brothers coming Into the season and we can see why. Pablo will need to increase that average, however, to catch up to the guys ahead of him.
Next Few In The List:
6. AARON FRANKLIN (Black Mambas)
(.571avg/1.768ops/0HR/14r/18rbis)
7. VIVEK SUKUMARAN (Hit Squad)
(.600avg/1.567ops/2HR/6r/12rbis)
8. GIUSEPPE MONTELBANO (DadBods)
(.565avg/1.386ops/1HR/6r/9rbis)
