A case made for Rookie of The Year?

On Saturday night, Atlanta rookie Ian Anderson five days removed from his shortest outing of the season against Miami, turned in another gem, as Atlanta turned back the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals, 2-1. Anderson allowed only an infield hit by Asdrubal Cabrera in the 4th inning, while walking 3 and striking out 7, throwing a season high 99 pitches over seven innings before turning it over to the Braves' bullpen.

The Shenendehowa alumnus' next start figures to be this weekend against the Mets at Citi Field. Atlanta is also expected to get their ace, Max Fried, back as well, and will lean on Fried & Anderson to carry the pitching load in a postseason run. Anderson is 3-0 in 4 starts, and, had he had enough innings by this point, would be chasing the Mets' Jacob deGrom, as well as Fried and some other big names, like the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw, for the Cy Young. However, assuming he gets in 2 more starts in the final two weeks, for a grand total of six for the season, it's too small a sample size to consider, but you can bank on Anderson being a contender next year.

That leaves the Rookie of The Year. Last year's winner, Pete Alonso of the Mets, has been bitten by the sophomore jinx, as he's struggled at the plate, despite 11 homers with 2 weeks to go. Given the unusual circumstances of the season, even though six games still wouldn't be enough for the ROTY, there will be those in Atlanta, as well as here in New York, after Anderson dominated the Yankees in his big league debut, who will campaign for Anderson.

However, if MLB decides that Anderson hasn't logged in enough service time this season, it could allow him an opportunity at the ROTY and the Cy Young in 2021.

And, oh, by the way, Anderson's final start of 2020 would likely be a rematch vs. Miami. Even if the Mets don't make the playoffs, a scenario looming more and more likely with 2 weeks left, the National League tournament will be fun to watch, just because of Ian Anderson.