Los Angeles Dodgers starter Walker Buehler was named a finalist for the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Award along with Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto.
Buehler has a fantastic first full Major League season for the Dodgers, going 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA, 3.04 FIP and 0.96 WHIP in 137.1 innings across 24 games (23 starts). The 24-year-old struck out 151 compared to just 37 walks in 137.1 innings.
He does face some stiff competition in both Acuña and Soto though, who impressed at just 20 and 19 years of age, respectively.
Acuña played in 111 games for the Braves after being called up at the end of April, hitting .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs, 64 RBI, 78 runs scored and 16 stolen bases in 21 attempts. He is considered the favorite by many to win the award.
Soto put up similar numbers in his first season with the Nationals though. He slashed .292/.406/.517 with 22 home runs, 77 runs scored and 70 RBI in 116 games.
The winner of the award will be announced on Monday, Nov. 12 on MLB Network with the other big awards to follow in the days after that.
If Buehler is able to take home the award then he will be the third straight Dodgers player to do so as Cody Bellinger won it in 2017 and Corey Seager in 2016. Both of them were unanimous selections, which isn’t expected to be the case this year regardless of who wins.
