The 2018 Major League Baseball season has come to an end. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series two weeks ago. It is now time for the major awards: Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young Award, and Most Valuable Player.
On Monday, the Rookie of the Year for the American League and National League will be announced. The finalists in the National League are Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Walker Buehler, Atlanta Braves Outfielder Ronald Acuna, and Washington Nationals Outfielder Juan Soto.
Walker Buehler
8-5, 2.62 ERA, 151 K
Buehler was a first round pick in the 2015 draft by the Dodgers. After getting his feet wet as a September call-up in 2017, Buehler had a stellar campaign in 2018. He finished with a better ERA than Clayton Kershaw and was one of four Dodger pitchers with 150+ strikeouts.
Buehler was a major part of a Dodger team that won the NL pennant and faced the Red Sox in the World Series. He only gave up 2 earned runs in his last 4 starts (0.68 ERA), including 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball and went 1 for 2 with an RBI in Game 163 against the Colorado Rockies that sent the Dodgers to the NLDS.
Ronald Acuna
.293/.356/.552/.917, 26 HR, 64 RBI
Acuna was signed by the Braves in 2014 out of Venezuela. He made his debut on April 25 and had 10 hits in his first 6 games. Acuna led the Braves in home runs, slugging percentage, and OBP, and finished second with 16 stolen bases. He also hit a grand slam in the NLDS off Buehler in the only game that the Braves won in the series.
Acuna, the third youngest player in the National League, won the NL Rookie of the Month in August. He hit .336 with 11 home runs and 21 RBI in that month, helping the Braves take a commanding lead in the NL East.
Juan Soto
.292/.406/.517/.923, 22 HR, 70 RBI
The Nationals signed Soto in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic. He made his debut on May 20 and, at 19, was the youngest player in the National League. He would go on to with the NL Rookie of the month in June, July, and September.
Soto was third on the team in batting average and home runs, and fourth in RBI, runs scored, and doubles. Defensively, he was 4th in the league in fielding percentage as a left fielder and had the second highest range factor for NL left fielders.
Who Will Win?
Buehler had a great season and went the furthest in the post season, but Acuna had a great season as well. Acuna gets the nod because he was on the field more than every fifth day.