By: Brady Shick

Brady Shick is a recent graduate of Bowling Green State University from Sagamore Hills, Ohio. He is currently pursuing a career in Baseball Operations and looking for opportunities.

February 28, 2025

One of the most prestigious awards in Major League Baseball is the Rookie of the Year Award. Hall of Famers like Rod Carew, Willie Mays, and Johnny Bench have won it. Originally named the J. Louis Comiskey Award, after the infamous owner of the Chicago White Sox, the award was changed to the Jackie Robinson Award in 1987 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier and winning the award en route to his Hall of Fame career.

Twenty twenty-four brought one of the best National League (NL) “Rookie of the Year” Races in recent years. Headlined by two first round picks in Paul Skenes and Jackson Merrill, it was one of the tightest races we have seen. Even the third finalist, Jackson Chourio, would have been likely to win Rookie of the Year most other seasons. Chourio finished the season batting .275 with 21 home runs and 22 steals. Meanwhile, Merrill’s efforts in batting .292 with 24 homers resulted in him earning his first ‘Silver Slugger’ award. FInally, Skenes finished the season as a NL Cy Young Candidate with a resume of 133 innings pitched, a sub 2.00 ERA, and 11 wins. Skenes ended up taking home the award in a tight race with Merrill and this season could bring the same.

2025 Favorites 

Roki Sasaki

Right now far and away the favorite for NL Rookie of the Year is Roki Sasaki. Sasaki comes over from Nippon Baseball in Japan to join the reigning World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers. Sasaki was one of the biggest free agents this season aside from Juan Soto. In Japan’s professional league, Sasaki had a 2.10 E.R.A over 4 seasons, and more than 500 strikeouts in fewer than 400 innings. While in Japan, Sasaki also outdueled Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a head-to-head matchup before Yamamoto signed his 12-year $325 million contract with the Dodgers last offseason. Sasaki also dominated during the World Baseball Classic (WBC) with two spectacular starts in 2023.

The only thing stronger than Sasaki’s reputation is his pitching arsenal. Sasaki debuted his stuff for the world at the WBC with a fastball consistently topping out at 100+ and an elite splitter. These pitches led to 11 strikeouts on two starts for Sasaki including some against current MLB veterans. 

Sasaki goes into one of the best situations possible in LA. Joining an organization known for developing talent, especially on the pitcher’s mound, with names like Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Ross Stripling, they are poised to help Sasaki fulfill his potential. This along with being one of the best pitchers in Japan is why Roki Sasaki is the current favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year.

Dylan Crews

Even though Paul Skenes finished his first season in the majors as a Cy Young finalist and National League Rookie of the Year, the media wasn’t sure if he was going to the Pirates with the first pick. There was buzz around his Louisiana State University teammate outfielder Dylan Crews that he might be going to Pittsburgh. Crews was a five-tool prospect coming out of college and had a dominant junior year batting over .400 with 18 home runs. However, Crews ultimately ended up being drafted by the Nationals who held the next pick. 

Crews made his Major League Debut in 2024, but still maintained his prospect status thanks to a small sample size of at-bats and he is ranked as the 6th best prospect by Baseball America. While Crews did not have a great start to his career he showed flashes of his five tool potential. Crews stole 12 bases in 31 games, played well defensively, and added 8 extra-base hits. Crews will make the Nationals’ roster out of Spring Training to be an everyday outfielder for the Nats. He will be a strong contender for Rookie of the Year.

Bubba Chandler

In high school Bubba Chandler was a multi-sport athlete. Prior to being drafted he was a 4-star quarterback recruit committed to play at Clemson. However, when he was drafted by the Pirates in 2021 he decided to sign with the franchise and start his professional baseball career. Originally, Chandler was a two-way player for the Pirates’ affiliates, where he would play in the designated hitter spot on days he wasn’t pitching.

Last season saw Chandler’s first year in the minors where he devoted himself strictly to pitching. This decision saw a vast improvement in his season statistics from a year prior and he really excelled in Triple-A for Indianapolis. Chandler saw his best minor league success late in the season last year just one step away from Major League Baseball. In Triple-A Chandler finished the season with an E.R.A of 1.83 in nearly 40 innings with 54 strikeouts in 7 starts. 

The main thing holding Chandler back amongst this group is the timetable for his MLB debut. The Pirates are notorious for manipulating service time to get the most years of control for their top prospect using the Super-2 deadline. This deadline is an arbitrary date during each season in which a player doesn’t receive a full year of service time. This gives the team an extra year of control before the player goes to free agency. The Pirates have done this for almost all of their top prospects including Paul Skenes, Gerrit Cole, Andrew McCutchen and other top prospects. Additionally, the Pirates are not contenders so there is no reason to push Chandler to Pittsburgh.

Conclusion

The favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year is undoubtedly Roki Sasaki. From his stellar performances at  the World Baseball Classic and dominating in Japan, Sasaki has debuted his talent across the world and it’s time for him to showcase it for Major League audiences. Dylan Crews and his five tools will be an immense talent for a young Nationals team with no one to take away opportunities. It will be time for him to show more than just flashes of his five-tool potential. As for Chandler the only thing holding him back is the Pirates’ timetable for his debut. Regardless, this year’s race could be just as exciting as the 2024 Rookie of the Year race.