Brewers' Future Is Bright, According To Latest Expert Rookie Of The Year Poll

The craziest part about the Milwaukee Brewers running laps around the rest of Major League Baseball this season may be that the best is yet to come.

Looking ahead to next season, the Brewers have only one marquee free agent hitting the market in starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff. A huge portion of the roster will either be arbitration-eligible for the first time, or still pre-arbitration for another season or two.

That latter group includes an incredible collection of rookies, who received their shine in an expert poll on Tuesday.

MLB.com Rookie of the Year Poll Gives Brewers Shine

MLB.com published its final expert Rookie of the Year poll, comprised of 41 voters who awarded fifth through first place for both the American League and National League. Not only did the Brewers have two of the top five, but they had four total players receive votes, the only team in the NL with that distinction.

Outfielder Isaac Collins and third baseman Caleb Durbin placed third and fourth, respectively, which marks a downturn for the former, who many saw as the favorite in mid-August. Collins received six first-place votes, placing behind Atlanta Braves catcher (25 first-place votes) and Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton (nine).

"Collins has been quite the revelation for the first-place Brewers. Entering Monday, the switch-hitter led qualified NL rookies with a .371 on-base percentage and an .804 OPS," wrote Jason Foster.

"Meanwhile, his 16 stolen bases were tied for most among NL rookies. He's been instrumental in the Brewers' surge to the top of the NL Central, so don't count him out in his race, especially if he makes more noise over the final few weeks."

Durbin has been one of the Brewers' hottest hitters of late, and Foster even speculated that the 25-year-old, who played college baseball at the Division III level, might overtake his teammate, Collins, by season's end.

Meanwhile, the Brewers' buzziest rookie this season is Jacob Misiorowski, who didn't place in the top five in this poll, but was named an All-Star after just five career starts. The big righty may be struggling in the second half, but he's one of the most talented young arms in the entire sport.

Lastly, 27-year-old starter Chad Patrick received at least one vote, as he deserves for his 3.60 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 105 major league innings.

There aren't enough ways at this point to express how bright the future is in Milwaukee. This is a team built to compete for a championship every year for the next half-decade.

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