OK, this could be considered general baseball, but there's a met (or maybe a few mets if you're generous) in the mix.

Thor: off to a good start, 11.1 innings, 11 Ks, 1.235 WHIP, 3.18 ERA and he looks good, numbers (I think) will improve.

Now, the competition:

Kris Bryant http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... kr01.shtml
.291 .426 .476 .902 - the 21 days he spent in the minor leagues are now a forgotten memory (which might get un-forgotten if the cubs miss the wild card by 1 game), but for now, it's forgotten. 146 OPS+ 1.1 war so far. Crazy high walk and K rates - something tells me those might not be sustainable. - 18% walk rate, 30% K rate.

Addison (barely old enough to drink) Russell. http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... ad02.shtml
.247 .295 .416 .710 0.5 war so far, good glove to go with an OK bat, but 35 Ks in 95 PAs doesn't work for me. He will be an allstar down the line I'm sure, but I don't see him in the run for ROY this year.

and completing the Cubs Trio:

Jorge Soler: http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... jo01.shtml
.273 .346 .399 .744 but a league leading 54 Ks in 162 PAs so far. 33.3%

Also, lets not forget this guy:

Joc Pederson: http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... jo01.shtml
.233 .388 .534 .922 with 10 homers so far. He's got similar walk and K numbers to Bryant. 19% walk rate, 30% K rate.

and the big money rookie (SS, but really a 3rd baseman) Yasmany Thomas
http://www.baseball-reference.com/playe ... ya01.shtml
.309 .356 .382 .739 Numbers are fine so far, doesn't K a ton like the other guys, not showing much power.

and honorable mentions, cause I'm a mets fan:

Erik Goeddel has put up some pretty numbers so far. As a relief pitcher and with this level of competition he might not get a single vote, but props to the guy for having a great start as a rookie after being a fringy 40 man roster guy the last 2 years.

And, ofcourse, Plawecki & Herrera. Neither are really putting up Roy numbers yet, though Plaw has been fine and Herrera's had the occasional hit or two. But there's still time. Needless to say, right now, they've both got some catching up to do.


But, right now, I think Joc, Bryant and Thor are the top 3 horses to bet on.

Did I miss anyone?

How about a Cy Young thread?

Bryant

The End

a Matt Harvey thread?

My money is on Joc Pederson. Bryant 2nd.

Call me crazy if you want, but If I was to bet, I'd put my money on Thor cause I like what I've seen and I'm not sold on Bryant or Joc hitting for average with their K rates as high as they are. Certainly Joc's 10 homers gives him the edge if the voting was today but his average has fallen like 70 pts in May.

Thor has looked Harvey-esqe but I wonder if he and possibly Matz will be on a season long shuttle between Las Vegas and NY. I know that the logical thing is to either go to a six man rotation or to put Gee in the pen but sometimes logic doesn't enter the minds of the FO/manager. Anyhoo, even if Syndergaard isn't shuttled around, there is a lot of competition. We need to re-visit this topic in mid-August....

Yeah. This isn't close.

Matz and Thor will both dominate, but they will split ROY votes and Bryant will emerge on top

His walk rate is insane enough to balance out any problems he might have with average. He could bat .200 and still be incredibly useful.

Pederson's walk rate (and K rate) and homer rate are all better than Bryant's. I realize he's not as highly praised a prospect, but he might be the better player, at least this season. I'm still not sure what to make of a guy with a 30% K rate and higher than 25% K rate in the minors. Very few players have really good careers with K rates like that. Well, there's Stanton, and he's still awesome, so maybe it's a new trend, but I can't help but see it as a concern.

This probably won't be much of a competition if Thor has the same number of home runs as Bryant