An August projection for Rookies of the Year: National League Batters (part 3 in a 4 part series)

We've already considered the top candidates for the American League Rookie of the Year, 3 hitters, and 3 pitchers. Now it's time to focus on the Senior Circuit, more specifically, the hitters.

Here are the top 3 candidates for Rookie of the Year, according to me.

Freddie Freeman: 1B, Atlanta Braves: Fearless Freddie, as I like to call him, could potentially run away with the Rookie of the Year, should he continue to produce at the rate that he's been going. He's tops among all non June call-ups with a .300 batting average, is second only to Danny Espinosa in home runs at 15 and RBI at 54, leads all rookies with 120 hits, and is more of a slugger than anyone else. I've actually seen Freeman in person, and he is definitely a contender for the Rookie of the Year honor, though he's still not as good as Jason Heyward was last year.

Danny Espinosa: 2B, Washington Nationals: As is the case with Blue Jays catcher JP Arencibia, Danny Espinosa is an all or nothing guy. Either he hits a big home run, or he strikes out. As previously mentioned, Espinosa is first in home runs and RBI (17 and 55, respectively)and also in stolen bases with 12, but his batting average is a paltry .226, not exactly praiseworthy. Nonetheless, Espinosa is a hustler who does everything he can to win, and he's proven to be popular with the DC crowd, as evidenced by Danny Espinosa Bobblehead day in September. Espinosa needs to go on a tear, if he wishes to at least contend with Fearless Freddie, otherwise, he'll go down the tubes.

Justin Turner: 2B, New York Mets: The last time a New York Met won the Rookie of the Year award, it was 1984, almost 27 years ago. This year, the Mets have a contender in Justin Turner. Turner may not hit as well as Freeman (.268 batting average) or as hard as Espinosa (2 home runs) but the one thing he has that could at least propel him into 2nd place is a Rookie of the Month award (Freddie Freeman recently won the award for July, which is why Turner could settle for 2nd place among hitters). Nonetheless, Turner has also set a Mets record for consecutive games with an RBI, and he went from the starting second baseman in Buffalo to the starting 3rd baseman in New York when David Wright was hurt. Turner now plays 22d base, but he could garner a few votes for his ability to handle situations and his close competition with Espinosa and Freeman.

The last post will focus on National League pitchers.