Lets get a few things out of the way. First, Walker Buehler had a legitimately great rookie campaign and I don’t want to discount that. In posting a 2.62 ERA and 3.04 FIP while striking out 9.9 batters per nine on his way to a 3.3 fWAR season, Buehler established himself as one of the better young pitchers in the entire league last season. In almost any other year, he would likely run away with the NL Rookie of the Year title. Big kudos to him.
Second, this article is going to focus solely on the two players that have a realistic chance of winning Rookie of the Year in Ronald Acuna Jr.