Best National League Rookies: Sophomore Seasons
By Noah Nash
NL ROY Award winner Jose Fernandez carved up many a NL Lineup in 2013. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jose Fernandez SP Miami Marlins
Fernandez had such an incredible rookie season that he would’ve won the NL Cy Young Award if Clayton Kershaw hadn’t put together the most dominant pitching season since Pedro Martinez in 1999. Fernandez went 12-6 in 28 starts, fanning 187 batters in 172 innings while allowing a measly 5.8 hits per nine innings to lead the league.However, showing his true dominance, Fernandez had a miniscule ERA of 2.19 and a WHIP of less than 1. Fernandez, despite only throwing 172 innings due to the “Strasburg treatment” put on him by the Marlins, put up a WAR of 6.3, good for third in the National League behind the aforementioned Kershaw and Phillies veteran Cliff Lee.
I don’t believe this is a fluke season and am certain that this is just the beginning of a dominant career for the Cuban right hander. The kid has a perfect pitchers body at 6’2 and 240 lbs, and has the most dominant repertoire in the National League. Oh, and he’ll turn just 22 next July. The Felix Hernandez comparisons are spot on. With a high 90’s fastball with an obscene amount of run and “the defector”, a curveball with so much break it breaks from Cuba to the United States, he has the stuff to be the best pitcher in baseball. He won’t be until Kershaw retires, but he should run the NL East for at least the next five years, he is a free agent in 2018.