4 Good Bets To Win The NL Rookie Of The Year Award

With the MLB lockout over and done with, opening day is rapidly approaching. The Rookie of the Year award is always something that fans and teams alike look forward to. Here we are going to cover four good bets to make on who will win this award in the National League.

CJ Abrams (+800)

CJ Abrams is a bit of a dark horse candidate to win the Rookie of the Year award. He has yet to play in any level above Double-A and did miss a large portion of his 2021 campaign with a sprained MCL and a fractured tibia. However, he is perfectly healthy right now and has a door open in front of him with Fernando Tatis possibly missing the first couple of months. During his Double-A time, he hit a .296 in 42 games with 13 stolen bases. If he can squeak out a good chunk of playing time with Tatis out of commission, then he could find a way to get into the conversation at the end of the year.

Joey Bart (+700)

Joey Bart could be seeing a window of opportunity this season after Buster Posey decided to retire for the San Francisco Giants. Bart got 33 games to test out the majors during the 2020 campaign but didn’t really look ready back then. During his time in the Triple-A, he put hit 10 home runs and 15 doubles in 67 games. The only real downside for Bart right now is that he won’t be a full-time starter straight away. Chances are that he will be splitting time with Curt Casali for at least a few weeks.

Seiya Suzuki (+500)

Seiya Suzuki was locked into a five-year, $85 million contract by the Chicago Cubs and it already looks like he will be able to perform up to that money. As a member of the Hiroshima Carp, he was able to blast away 189 home runs and 621 RBIs. Last season alone, Suzuki had 38 home runs with 88 walks and 89 strikeouts, insane numbers. He is a good bet for the award because he is essentially the clear-cut starter in the outfield for the Cubs. There is no doubt that they want to see him in action already and his playing time will come immediately.

Oneil Cruz (+350)

It’s clear that the Pittsburgh Pirates have found something in Oneil Cruz. The 23-year-old played in 68 games last season. He spent that time in both the Double-A and Triple-A level. In those games, he had 17 homers, five triples and 16 doubles. He has all the skills in the world to make a run at the award this season, but playing time comes into question. The Pirates don’t want to rush Cruz into action straight away, and being caution could force him to get little action for months. However, he should still be exceptional enough to win it despite missing time.