MLB Blog Poll - Week 2 (NL Vote)

Roto Advice is privileged to be taking part in a weekly blog poll, thought up by David at Baseball Happenings. Each week, 27 blog writers each select the MVP, CY Young, and Rookie of the year winners if the season were to end today. We alternate on what league we vote on each week, and this week it was the NL's turn.

You can find the actual voting results here, but below is what we submitted as our NL picks for the week. We'll continue to post our selections each week after the votes are tallied & published at Baseball Happenings.

NL MVP:

1) Hanley Ramirez - HanRam is already on a 10 game hitting streak, he's hitting over .400, he's 2nd in the NL in runs, he's shown power & speed, and he's doing all of this without his cleanup hitter from the past few years, Miguel Cabrera.

2) Albert Pujols - After all of the fear in spring training, he's proven to be just as good as ever. Not only is he hitting close to .400 with a few HR & steals, but he also has 12 BB's to only 4 K's on the year...and an awesome 1.200 + OPS.

3) Justin Upton - Even though I drafted him in some fantasy leagues this year, I can honestly say I didn't expect this type of performance this fast (although I won't complain). He's putting up star numbers, and just think, he hasn't even tried a stolen base yet (he attempted 7 & was successful on 4 of them in spring training). The best is yet to come.

NL CY Young:

1) Ben Sheets - Sheets is healthy, and as he's shown in the past, he can produce big time when healthy.

2) Cole Hamels - He continues to show that he's going to be a dominating force in this league for a long time.

3) Jake Peavy - I'm going to have to pick Peavy over Webb here, although they are very close at this point. Peavy has picked up right where he left off last season, proving that his performance in 2006 was just a mirage. The scariest part is he's still only 26!

NL Rookie of the Year:

1) Johnny Cueto - How can you argue with 18 K's & 0 walks in his first 13 + innings pitched? He's shown poise, confidence, and most importantly, nasty stuff.

2) Kosuke Fukudome - All he's doing is hitting.

3) Jair Jurrjens - Deciding between Kuroda & Jurrjens was tough, and even though Kuroda has put up slightly better numbers on the year thus far, I'm going to use my regional bias here & pick Jurrjens. I've watched Jurrjens pitch, and he's the real deal. He's not trying to strike every batter out, but he's got a great makeup & he'll be an excellent pitcher for the Braves. Interesting note - he is currently the 7th youngest player in the majors right now (at 22).

Please feel free to supply any comments or feedback on our selections. Thanks!