Since its inception in 1947 there have been 35 pitchers to win Major League Baseball’s prestigious Rookie of the Year Award – 15 in the American League and 20 in the National League. Of those 20 NL ROY pitchers, six have been Dodger: Don Newcombe (1949), Joe Black (1952), Rick Sutcliffe (1979), Steve Howe (1980), Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Hideo Nomo (1995). And while some may argue that a guy who only plays once every four or five days is not as deserving of the award as a guy who plays everyday, it’s hard to argue that any of these 35 pitchers were not worthy of the award.

With the 2013 season about to enter its final quarter, it’s time for the voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) to begin whittling down their list of this year’s class of ROY candidates. And while the credibility of the BBWAA will undoubtedly once again be challenged (as it is every year at this time), the list of viable candidates most certainly will not.

It is difficult for Dodger fans to even consider looking beyond Yasiel Puig as the leading 2013 NL ROY candidate, this in spite of his late (June 3) call-up, but what about the other Dodger rookie whose arrival on the scene is a major reason why the Dodgers are enjoying their historic 2013 season – South Korean left-handed pitching sensation Hyun-jin Ryu?

While Dodger rookie phenom Yasiel Puig is capturing most of the headlines, it may be the other Dodger rookie who is more deserving of the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year title.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Although most baseball writers and bloggers may disagree on who they believe should actually win the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year title, there are a handful of candidates who are on everyone’s list – or at least should be. On the National League side, some of those names are: Cardinals RHP Shelby Miller, Braves C/OF Evan Gattis, D-backs SS Didi Gregorius, Marlins RHP Jose Fernandez, and of course Puig and Ryu.

It is difficult for some old schoolers to accept players like Ryu as true rookies when guys like him played professionally in other leagues. And while 2001 AL ROY winner and future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki is arguably the most notable player in this category, the guy who won the inaugural Rookie of the Year title in 1947 and the person for whom the annual award is now named also played professionally in another league before winning the award in the MLB. I am, of course, referring to the great Jackie Robinson who played professionally in the Negro Leagues before breaking MLB’s color barrier, also in 1947. This from Wikipedia:

“The award has drawn criticism in recent years because several players with experience in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) have won the award, such as Hideo Nomo in 1995, Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2000, and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. The current definition of rookie status for the award is based only on Major League experience, but some feel that past NPB players are not true rookies because of their past professional experience. Others however, believe it should make no difference since the first recipient and the award’s namesake played for the Negro Leagues prior to his MLB career and thus could also not be considered a “true rookie”. This issue arose in 2003 when Hideki Matsui narrowly lost the AL award to Ángel Berroa. Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune said he did not see Matsui as a rookie in 2003 because “it would be an insult to the Japanese league to pretend that experience didn’t count.” The Japan Times ran a story in 2007 on the labeling of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa, and Hideki Okajima as rookies, saying “[t]hese guys aren’t rookies.” Past winners such as Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, and Sam Jethroe had professional experience in the Negro Leagues.”

In his 23 starts thus far this season, Ryu is 12-3 with an excellent 2.91 ERA. He has struck out 121 while walking only 43 and opposing hitters are batting .250 against him. With his win on Tuesday night against the Mets, Ryu became only the fourth rookie in L.A. Dodger history to win five consecutive starts, joining the elite ranks of Fernando Valenzuela (six straight in 1981), Hideo Nomo (six straight in 1995) and Kazuhisa Ishii (six straight in 2002). Ironically, only Ishii did not win the NL Rookie of the Year title.

It’s impossible to predict what the BBWAA will do come MLB ROY voting time, but it is equally impossible to comprehend that the voting members of the BBWAA will not at least give Hyun-jin Ryu fair consideration when casting their ballots.