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NL Rookie of the Year Power Rankings: Mets' deGrom creates distance from field

Every week until the end of the season, we'll take a look at the top first-year players in the National League and size up their candidacy for the Rookie of the Year.

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1 Jacob deGrom New York Mets 2

Jacob deGrom might not get another chance to prove his case for NL Rookie of the Year, but it might not matter.

The Mets right-hander bolstered his candidacy with a dominating two-start week, striking out 23 batters over 13 innings of work.

On Monday, deGrom equaled a major-league record by punching out the first eight Miami Marlins he faced. He followed that up by striking out seven of nine Atlanta Braves on Sunday, en route to 10 Ks and his fifth straight quality start.

The 26-year-old rookie ranks inside the top 10 in ERA (2.63) and WHIP (1.13) among pitchers who have thrown at least 130 innings, and he's striking out batters an elite clip.

Billy Hamilton has occupied this spot in previous weeks, but deGrom's body of work is simply too impressive to overlook. Mets manager Terry Collins hinted that Sunday might be deGrom's last start, but he's done enough to justify becoming the team's first Rookie of the Year since Doc Gooden in 1984.

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2 Billy Hamilton Cincinnati Reds 1

Hamilton's recent struggles were discussed in this space last week, but the speedy outfielder doesn't appear to be finding his way out of them any time soon.

The Reds center fielder is hitting .100/.217/.150 over the last two weeks and has been caught stealing three times out of five attempts in September.

Hamilton's candidacy has been strengthen by speed, defense and playing time, but he's no longer producing the best season by a first-year player. Cincinnati looks to have itself a leadoff center fielder, but it doesn't have this year's Rookie of the Year.

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3 Travis d'Arnaud New York Mets 4

The Mets sure cornered the market on rookies having strong years with a last name starting with a lowercase "d."

Travis d'Arnaud has quietly emerged as the best first-year catcher in the league, and appears poised to finish the season strong with a .317/.379/.517 September. The Mets catcher has created 55 percent more runs than league average this month, according to FanGraphs' wRC+.

His season slash line is weakened by a poor start, but 13 homers, 22 doubles and a .342 second-half wOBA is legit. He's pretty good with the glove, too.

[Courtesy: MLB.com]

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4 Kolten Wong St. Louis Cardinals 5

Wong won't win Rookie of the Year, but the Cardinals second baseman will be playing baseball in October.

The 23-year-old is finishing the year strong for a division-winning team, and his blend of speed and power at that position has been a key component to St. Louis' offense.

Entering play Monday, Wong has 12 homers, 20 steals and a .400 slugging percentage in 108 games. If it weren't for a mid-season shoulder injury, there's a good chance Wong puts together a 15-homer, 25-steal campaign. 

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5 Ender Inciarte Arizona Diamondbacks -

Inciarte's slugging (.350) and weighted on-base (.296) rates leaves some to be desired, but his 16 doubles, 16 steals and good defense over 112 games offers plenty of promise. The Diamondbacks center fielder edges fellow rookie teammates David Peralta and Chris Owings, who have statistically played better, but have missed too many games with injuries.

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