NL Rookie of the Year debates are picking up steam everywhere from around water coolers to the ESPN/East Coast-hype machine, who has done its best to make the debate over the 2010 NL ROY seem like a legitimate one.

It began with Jason Heyward. His legend spread like a Kardashian at …um, like wildfire. Fantasy owners drooled over him. Scouts wrote things like “Heyward is a can’t-miss five-tool player.” Another said “watching him is akin to witnessing the spawn of Mickey Mantel and Henry Aaron being gently cultivated in an organic clover field of clover while being serenaded by John Lennon and Fergie, as his home runs create double and triple rainbows as they streak across the sky. “

Heyward’s hot start bat helped solidify the hype, as he hit .292 with 10 home runs, 38 RBI and slugged .578. But since a trip to the disabled list, his East Coast zip code has done more to keep him in the conversation than his rather pedestrian numbers have.

On the year J-Hey is hitting just .259. He’s slugged just two long-balls since June 1, and has tallied a total of 51 RBIs.

Next was Stephen Strasburg.

Each of his minor-league starts was covered with more zeal than the Nixon impeachment proceedings. And he was spectacular. In just 63 2/3 innings, Strasburg has recorded 86 strikeouts and has walked just 18. His ERA is a crisp 2.97 and microscopic WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) is 1.12. That included his past two starts where he’s allowed nine runs (seven earned) in 9 1/3 innings.

But his own trip to the DL, and a strict innings limit soon to be enforced by the Nationals will keep Strasburg’s name off the ROY trophy.

Then there was this kid named Buster. He’s outhit Heyward and outshined Strasburg all while putting a team in the thick of a pennant race squarely on his shoulders.

Gerald “Buster” Demp Posey III has lived up to his hype, and has surpassed the expectations of his main competitors.

In 68 games since being called up on May 29, Posey is hitting .337 with 9 homers, 43 RBIs, while slugging .516 with an OBP of .386. More impressively, the Giants are 24-13 in games he starts behind the plate (39-26 in his starts overall).

Additionally, Posey is hitting cleanup for the Giants and he’s catching one of the league’s best and most difficult pitching staffs to handle. Posey has also turned the Giants lineup into a legitimate big-league threat, adding protection for Aubrey Huff (.301, 15 HR, 46 RBI since the Posey promotion), putting Huff in the thick of the NL MVP conversation. He’s also picked up the slack left by Pablo Sandoval’s sophomore slump.

One scout beamed:

“Posey is the unicorn of catchers, except he actually exists. Imagine Johnny Bench as a centaur flying shotgun alongside Ted Williams in World War II as their DNA is cryogenically frozen together resulting in the 2010 National League Rookie of the Year.”

This year’s rookie class is impressive, to say the least. Barring injuries or some other unforeseen setback, Heyward, Strasburg, and Posey will be elite-level players for years to come, but the list goes even deeper than that.

The Reds’ Mike Leake has been a main cog in Cincinnati rotation, going 8-4 with a 3.78 for the first-place Reds. The Cardinals’ Jaime Garcia (10-5, 2.71 ERA), the Mets Ike Davis (15 HR, 51 RBI), the Cubs’ Starlin Castro (.314 avg.), Nat’s Ian Desmond (.266/9/49), have also rounded out a stout group of NL rookies.

But none of them have outperformed Posey.

“Mark my words: he’s Jason Varitek behind the plate and Derek Jeter as a hitter,” Florida State assistant baseball coach Mike Martin said in an interview with the New York Times. “He gets inside the ball like he’s Jeter, and he runs the show like he’s Varitek — and he cares, like both of them do. That’s what you’re getting.”

END IT.

Used with permission of the author.

Theo is a staff reporter and feature writer for the Marin Independent Journal where he covers local prep and college sports. As an Associate Production Manager for ESPN, he helped produce Sunday Night Baseball among other national ESPN and ABC Sports telecasts. In addition to his contributions to Sports Climax, he is a columnist for Examiner.com and is the play-by-play voice for Sonoma State University baseball and softball.

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