I had fun watching him pitch last weekend and sadness but understanding writing about him missing some starts. Who is "him"? My pick for National League Rookie of the Year...Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez. I'm here to make a case for Eury over the leading current candidate: Arizona Diamondbacks LF Corbin Carroll. Is there a good case for Eury? Let's find out...
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez should win the National League Rookie of the Year award.
I admit it, I'm biased. I would pick a Miami Marlins player over an Arizona Diamondbacks player any day. I would try to be reasonable, but I won't lie and pretend that I'm unbiased. That said, I do genuinely believe that Eury is a better choice than Corbin Carroll. I'm here to make the best case possible for that result.
Corbin Carroll has been amazing this season. He currently has been worth 3.8 WAR, which makes sense. Why? He has a .293/.370/.568 batting line, with17 home runs and 44 RBI in 77 games and 280 AB. He's definitely lived up to his top prospect status and is an elite slugger at this point. It's hard to find anything negative about him, and I feel wrong even trying to. If there's anything questionable, it's his .320 BABIP, that seems a tad high.
Fangraphs is perhaps surprisingly low on Corbin Carroll going forward. Streamer projects a .260/.343/.475 batting line for him going forward. That's a solid but not a terribly impressive batting line. Eury Pérez has been worth 2.2 WAR. He has a 1.34 ERA/3.02 FIP, with 10.3 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 9 games and 47.0 innings pitched. Eury has a 97.5 MPH fastball as well by the way.
The fact is unless you're the 2022 version of Sandy Alcantara, a hitter will have a higher WAR. That said, the saying is "pitching wins championships" for a reason. I'm more impressed by Eury's 2.2 WAR in 9 games, than Corbin Carroll's 3.8 WAR in 77 games. Aren't you? Corbin Carroll will likely win the NL ROY award, but I really hope that somehow it will go to Eury Pérez.