Why Jose Fernandez Should Win The NL Roy

Jose Fernandez has been stunning to watch this year for the Marlins, posting an 8-5 record with a 2.54 ERA. Playing on a Marlins team that is the worst in the NL and having a winning record is quite impressive. Especially after you state that Fernandez is the only Marlins pitcher with a winning record. And get this, he's only 20 years old. Being a rookie pitcher in the MLB is tough enough, but being as dominant as Fernandez? That's even tougher. Even for a veteran. 

Is Fernandez good enough to be the National League Rookie of the Year? He has plenty of tough competition, ranging from Yasiel Puig to Shelby Miller. You could make a case for any of the three rookies, because they've been impressive in their own ways, and been able to dominate in their first year in the big leagues. 

Jose Fernandez is my pick for the award, because he deserves it. Fernandez has delivered a quality start in 2/3 of his starts (14 QS in 21 GS).  The Marlins are 13-8 in Fernandez's starts, because he has been able to pitch the Marlins to victory. Also, 27.3% of plate appearances against Fernandez are strikeouts. That's why he has 138 SO in only 127.2 IP. His dominance has been matched by very few pitchers, and if you take into consideration the type of team he's on, you wonder how he's pitching so well. 

If you compare Fernandez's stats to, say, Miller's, you can see he gets the job done with fewer run support. Miller gets 4.8 runs per start, more than an entire run more than Fernandez. And, he isn't better than Fernandez. 

Fernandez: 8-5, 2.54 ERA, 1.01 WHIP

Miller: 11-7, 2.89 ERA, 1.12 WHIP

Both pitchers are definitely very good pitchers, and you don't need stats to prove that. But, honestly I believe that Fernandez is a more commanding pitcher than Shelby Miller.

Also, another reason I believe that Fernandez is a better pitcher than Miller is that he's on a less offensive team. Fernandez is on the worst National League team in terms of offense (354 runs -- Last in NL), while Miller is on a high-powered offensive team (534 runs -- 1st in NL). Although offense doesn't tell how good a pitcher is, it can really help the pitcher pitch in less high-pressured situations. WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is a good stat to help measure truly how good a pitcher is. WAR is a single number assigned to players that represents how many wins the pitcher added to the team, over what a replacement (AAA Pitcher) would add. And, Fernandez's WAR is 3.9, while Miller's is 2.9.

Obviously, both pitchers are very good at pitching. But, I would rather have Fernandez as my Rookie of the Year because he has been so dominant in his starts. Miller delivers 'good' starts, but I believe Fernandez's are way more impressive, especially since he is pitching on a very poor team in the Marlins. The last two months of the season will really tell who deserves the award more.