Cardinals' Masyn Winn snubbed from star studded Rookie of the Year finalists group

It's not often that a rookie shortstop puts up the kind of season that Maysn Winn did for the St. Louis Cardinals and they do not win Rookie of the Year. To not even be named a finalist for the award? Now that is wild.

The top three finalists for each of the major end of season awards was announced today, and Winn was left out of the top trio of NL rookies this year, finishing behind at least Brewers' Jackson Chourio, Padres' Jackson Merrill, and Pirates' Paul Skenes.

I think most people expect Skenes to run away with the award this year, and rightfully so. Skenes made 23 starts for the Pirates this year while posting a 1.96 ERA and 33.1 K%, finishing with 4.3 fWAR in the process. Skenes was so electric that he was named an All-Star after debuting in late May and was the starter for the National League in that game. Skenes may already be the best pitcher in baseball.

Merrill is the worthy runner-up this year, posting a 130 wRC+ while playing a really nice center field for the Padres this year. Merrill slashed .292/.326/.500 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI, a bonkers output for the 21-year-old rookie.

Chourio is where things get dicey for me. He also had himself quite the rookie year, slashing .275/.327/.464 with 21 home runs and 79 RBI for the National League Central Champion Brewers, while manning the corner outfield spots for Milwaukee. Call me a homer, but I think Winn should have been the third finalist over him.

Masyn Winn should have finished top three in National League Rookie of the Year voting

Why? Well, give me the shortstop who was a top-three defender at his position this year with an above league average bat as my guy any day of the week.

Winn slashed .267/.314/.416 with 15 HR and 57 RBI while leading off for the Cardinals the majority of this year. His 103 wRC+ is a fair bit off of Chourio's 117 wRC+, but the gap defensively I think is wide enough to give Winn the edge here.

Winn was electric this year for St. Louis, and I do think it matters that his defense was so elite at a premium position in year one while also swinging a quality bat. Again, Chourio was a great player this year as well, but his bat wasn't "elite" by any means. Winn can claim that about his defense.

On another note, it's honestly wild that both Shota Imanaga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished outside the top three as well. I think both deserve to be behind the four names I just mentioned, but it shows how good this rookie class was. Imanaga posted a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts for the Cubs this year while Yamamoto had a 3.00 ERA in his 18 starts for the Dodgers.

This was truly a historic rookie class, so there is no shame for Winn that he didn't finish top three. I really thin he deserved it though.