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Keith Law, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

My NL Rookie of the Year ballot, other award thoughts

For the fourth time in the past five years, Keith had an official National League Rookie of the Year ballot. As in past years, he reveals his ballot and offers his rationale once the BBWAA and MLB announce the winners. Here are his thoughts on this year's NL ROY ballot, along with what his votes would be on the other MLB awards.

This ended up a rather anticlimactic National League Rookie of the Year ballot, even though, as late as mid-August, it seemed like I'd have a tough decision to make at the top. Kris Bryant, my preseason pick (and everyone else's) to win the award, ran away with it by any reasonable measure, leading all NL rookies in WAR, OBP, home runs (tied with Joc Pederson) and doubles, and finishing second to Pederson in walks drawn. His .488 slugging percentage led all 13 NL rookies who reached 400 plate appearances in 2015, and he played above-average defense at third base. Both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs had Bryant in the top 10 for all NL position players in wins above replacement as well. This simply wasn't close.

There were, however, at least five worthy candidates for the next two spots on the list, although I figured neither of those places on my ballot would have any effect on the actual winner. (No one really remembers who finished second or later in the rookie of the year balloting after a few hours anyway. The postseason awards all seem to be binary" You won or you didn't, whether you finished second or tenth.)

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