St. Louis Cardinals: Harrison Bader for Rookie of the Year

ST. LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 2: Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after batting in the game-tying run against the Cincinnati Reds in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on September 2, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 2: Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after batting in the game-tying run against the Cincinnati Reds in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on September 2, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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St. Louis Cardinals
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 04: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals reacts after drawing an RBI walk scoring Trea Turner #7 (not pictured) in the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park on September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Cardinals have a wunderkind in their center fielder and the baseball world is taking notice. Will he win the Rookie of the Year for the NL?

Taking nothing away from Harrison Bader nor the St. Louis Cardinals, Juan Soto with the Washington Nationals is one heck of a player. In fact, he might run away with the NL Rookie of the Year.

Soto is carrying a slash line of .298/.419/.509 with a .928 OPS. Since bursting on the scene this season on May 20, Soto has smashed his way into the ROY conversation. Offensively, he is a force to be reckoned with but he isn’t as great defensively as Bader.

Soto is noted as a 2.5-WAR player; some 1.4 points lower than Harrison Bader. Going side by side defensively, one can see how Bader in center is a better defender than Soto in left. Have a look:

Standard Fielding
Year Age Tm Pos Lg G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rdrs Rtot/yr Rdrs/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
2018 19 WSN LF NL 94 92 88 808.0 171 166 3 2 2 .988 -8 -4 -12 -6 1.88 1.80 .987 1.86 1.86
2018 19 WSN OF NL 94 92 88 808.0 171 166 3 2 2 .988 -8 -4 -12 -5 1.88 1.80 .986 2.09 2.09
1 Season OF 94 92 88 808.0 171 166 3 2 2 .988 -8 -4 -12 -5 1.88 1.80 .986 2.09 2.09
1 Season LF 94 92 88 808.0 171 166 3 2 2 .988 -8 -4 -12 -5 1.88 1.80 .987 1.86 1.86
1 Season TOT 94 92 88 808.0 171 166 3 2 2 .988 -8 -4 -12 -5 1.88 1.80 .986 2.09 2.09

…and Bader:

Standard Fielding
Year Age Tm Pos Lg G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rdrs Rtot/yr Rdrs/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
2018 24 STL OF NL 91 77 71 732.1 217 207 8 2 1 .991 8 21 14 34 2.64 2.36 .986 2.09 2.09
2018 24 STL CF NL 52 46 44 432.2 144 139 4 1 0 .993 10 13 27 36 2.97 2.75 .986 2.46 2.45
2018 24 STL RF NL 38 29 26 270.0 66 61 4 1 1 .985 -1 8 -4 36 2.17 1.71 .984 1.95 1.95
2018 24 STL LF NL 6 2 1 29.2 7 7 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 -16 0 2.12 1.17 .987 1.85 1.87
2 Seasons OF 118 97 88 920.2 269 256 9 4 1 .985 11 24 14 31 2.59 2.25 .986 2.08 2.07
2 Seasons CF 72 63 59 584.1 189 181 5 3 0 .984 10 15 21 30 2.86 2.58 .986 2.42 2.41
2 Seasons RF 41 30 26 277.2 66 61 4 1 1 .985 -1 8 -4 34 2.11 1.59 .984 1.95 1.95
2 Seasons LF 13 4 3 58.2 14 14 0 0 0 1.000 2 1 33 20 2.15 1.08 .984 1.84 1.84
2 Seasons TOT 118 97 88 920.2 269 256 9 4 1 .985 11 24 14 31 2.59 2.25 .986 2.08 2.07

Notice that Bader outshines Soto in almost all defensive categories. While Soto is impressive at the plate- true- and while he is highly respected in the field, Bader outshines based on his defensive abilities.

That all said, Richard Justice in his MLB.com ROY article of September 4, placed Soto one step above Bader in the NL race. He notes that both races are tight and it is still anyone’s game in either league. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America have voted throughout the season and as of his writing, Soto was ahead of Bader.