Breaking Down The NL ROY Race

The race to win NL Rookie of the Year in Major League Baseball has been a tightly contested one so far, with no one really separating themselves from the rest of the group. However, we do have favorites on the odds board right now, and we are going to go through a few of them to decide who might be the best bet in a crowded field of rookies that all would love to earn that honor. I'll also give you a long shot that I think has the potential to shoot up to the top of the board by season's end. Let's get right into it.

Leading us off is Michael Harris, the 21-year-old rookie outfielder on the defending champion Atlanta Braves. Harris sits atop the odds board right now over at BetMGM, listed as the +300 favorite to win NL ROY. Obviously, +300 isn't that big of a favorite considering the AL ROY odds leader is currently -275 to win that award. That just shows you how wide open this truly is. Harris has been great for the Braves in his first campaign so far. He has a .300 average with five home runs and 19 RBI. He's slumped through the beginning of July so far, going 2-for-16 in five games, but he's been noticeably more active on the base paths. Harris has four steals in his last nine games, compared to two in his first 27 appearances.

Second on the board is Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz, who is listed at +400 right now to win NL ROY at BetMGM. The bad news for Cruz is that he plays on a lousy team like the Pirates, so he doesn't get much attention. His average isn't there, hitting just .193 so far, but the power has been. Seven of his 11 hits so far this season went for extra bases. He's striking out at a 32.7% clip, but has still managed to snag 12 RBI and seven runs scored across 13 games since being recalled from the Minor Leagues.

Coming up in third place right now is Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider, who is listed at +500 at BetMGM. Strider gets the unfortunate position of having another exceptional rookie on his team in Harris, but has the ability to leapfrog him with more strong performances on the mound. He's been phenomenal recently, and has some nasty stuff on the mound. He just had his second double-digit strikeout game, and induced a whopping 24 swinging strikes on 93 pitches. He got rocked by San Francisco, giving up six earned runs in just 3.2 innings, but has the potential to be great.

Now, for a sleeper I like. Chicago Cubs rookie Seiya Suzuki is listed at +1400 right now at BetMGM, and I like his chances at that number. He just recently returned from injury, and already has made a huge impact for the Cubbies with a home run in his first game back. He's also had a multi-hit game, and has looked back to his beginning of the year form in which he was dominant. If he can continue on this pace, I like his chances to climb up the board.