On Monday the league announced the winners of the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year award. The Cardinals’ Dylan Carlson began the season as a leading contender for the honor. He finished it the same way, coming in 3rd in the voting behind the very deserving Jonathan India of the Reds and Miami’s Trevor Rogers.
In the end, it’s hard to describe Carlson’s season as anything but “good”. He had a .266/.343/.437 slash line with a 113 wRC+ and a .336 wOBA. He produced 2.8 fWAR, a total that was hurt by spending 501 innings in centerfield, a position that he was simply not ready to play.