The middle of August is nearly upon us, meaning it's time to start thinking about the postseason honors. Today, we're examining the Rookie of the Year Awards race. Spoiler alert: the National League's winner is already set in stone.
The winner
With due respect to the rest of the field, Cody Bellinger should prepare his trophy shelf for some new hardware. Bellinger has homered 32 times in 91 games -- that's a 57-homer pace over a full season -- and has done so while hitting for an acceptable average and drawing walks in more than 10 percent of his trips to the plate. By the way, Bellinger has also seen action at both outfield corners in addition to his time spent at the cold corner. He's a fantastic player.
The Rockies
We'll lump these three pitchers together, though the strength of their cases vary. Kyle Freeland has generated a slew of grounders to make up for his bleh strikeout rate; German Marquez, meanwhile, is the inverse, relying on strikeouts to cloak his flyball tendencies; then there's Antonio Senzatela, who'll receive some credit for a good start and a 10-4 record. No matter which order they finish in, expect each to get a look.
Down-ballot candidates
Paul DeJong has ascended from relative unknown to the Cardinals' everyday shortstop and No. 3 hitter due to his pop. He's homered 16 times and added an additional 13 doubles, making 29 of his 63 hits of the extra-base variety. We'll see if he learns to accept walks.
Versatility is Ian Happ's top selling point. To wit, he has started at least 15 five games at four different positions: second base and all three outfield spots. He's shown some pop at the plate, too, though he could stand to make more contact.
Josh Bell has homered 19 times this season, more than he did in any individual minor-league season. He's not going to have the raw counting stats required to win, but it's an encouraging sign that he's recovered after a poor May.
