2022 MLB Futures Betting: Atlanta Braves Duo Michael Harris, Spencer Strider Lead N.L. Rookie of the Year Race

While the American League Rookie of the Year race has been mostly devoid of suspense since the calendar flipped to May and Julio Rodriguez’s growing pains ceased to exist, intrigue continues to abound in the National League, where the Rookie of the Year derby is in at least its fourth phase — and one that is of particular interest in Atlanta.

With Seiya Suzuki, Mackenzie Gore and Oneil Cruz all having come and gone as the favorites to win the award, center stage in the Senior Circuit now firmly belongs to a pair of Braves — pitcher Spencer Strider and outfielder Michael Harris II. 

GOOD GRIEF @MONEYYYMIKEEE 💰 pic.twitter.com/cxV34MKlAy

— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) July 9, 2022

Strider continued making history Thursday night, when he became the first Braves pitcher to ever record his first nine outs of a baseball game via the strikeout. He allowed two hits and struck out 12 while walking two over six scoreless innings but didn’t factor into the decision in Atlanta’s 3-2, 11-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Strider, who began the season in the bullpen, has a 2.83 ERA in eight starts, a span in which he’s limiting opposing batters to a .169 average while striking out 65 and walking 14 in 41 1/3 innings. He is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1901) to record at least 65 strikeouts and average at least 14 strikeouts per nine innings over his first eight starts.

Harris, whose seventh-inning solo homer Thursday provided the Braves’ only run before extra frames, is hitting .290 with six homers, 20 RBIs and six steals while compiling 0.4 defensive wins above replacement in centerfield. Atlanta is 30-11 since Harris was promoted on May 28 — the best record in the majors in that span.

While Strider is technically the favorite as of today, the teammates are in a virtual dead heat atop the race at the major sports books. Strider is a +210 favorite at DraftKings, where Harris is at +300. Strider and Harris are in a dead heat at BetMGM with +250 odds. 

The constant jockeying for position over the first half is a reminder Strider and Harris have a long way to go before they can appear on a split screen during MLB Network’s Rookie of the Year show in November. But with Strider, well, hitting his stride and Harris’ emergence coinciding with the Braves’ resurgence, it’s not too early to wonder about the select company the two players would join if they finished 1-2 in the balloting.

Teammates have placed in the top two spots in the Rookie of the Year voting eight times. Appropriately enough, the last club to have two players finish first and second in the Rookie of the Year race was the Braves in 2011, when Craig Kimbrel was the unanimous winner after recording 46 saves — tied for the most in the NL with John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers — and first baseman Freddie Freeman finished second. (An amusing side note: While Kimbrel and Freeman are now teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kenley Jansen, who was in the Dodgers’ bullpen when he tied for seventh in the 2011 Rookie of the Year balloting, is the Braves’ closer)

The Florida Marlins took the top two spots — and fourth place as well — in 2006, when Hanley Ramirez won the award, Dan Uggla finished second and Josh Johnson was fourth in the NL balloting. The 1989 Chicago Cubs (winner Jerome Walton and runner-up Dwight Smith), 1984 Seattle Mariners (Alvin Davis and Mark Langston), 1975 Boston Red Sox (Fred Lynn and Jim Rice), 1963 Chicago White Sox (Gary Peters and Pete Ward) and the 1957 Philadelphia Phillies (Jack Sanford and Ed Bouchee) all had players finish 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting. The 1960 Baltimore Orioles went one better by taking all three spots — winner Ron Hansen, followed by teammates Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile.