It’s only been 13 games and Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig has taken over the talks of the Major League Baseball realm as the next phenom to take center stage. Since June 3rd, Puig has managed to hit and electrifying .479 with four home runs, 10 RBI and 23 total hits. In this two-and-a-half week stretch I have found myself somewhat humbled by his accomplishments. Humbled only in the sense that I have difficulty putting so much faith in rookie performances based on what I have seen with up-and-coming talent through MLB history.

While one could argue what Mike Trout did for the Los Angeles Angels in 2012, Bryce Harper did for the Washington Nationals, or even what Yoenis Cespedes did for the Oakland Athletics for a Cuban player comparison, It’s a hard to base one year as far as a valid argument why Puig might be the next “real deal.”

So far he has all the makings of a true five-tool player. He can hit, he can hot for power, he can run, he can catch and he can most certainly throw. The best example of that is his game-ending double play in which he caught the second out of the ninth inning and then gunned out Chris Denorfia as he was trying to get back to first base. But even with all of these accomplishments in such a short time frame I still have look back to 1947, when the Rookie of the Year award was first created to form a proper and well-researched opinion.

In 1947 and 1948 the Rookie of the Year award only went to one person throughout all MLB. Rightfully so, Jackie Robinson won it the inaugural year while Al Dark won it for the Boston Braves in 1948. Who is Al Dark, you might be thinking? Exactly. In 1949 the Rookie of the Year award was bestowed to the best youngling in each league. Since 1947 only 13 players have gone on to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. That’s 13 out of 80 players up through the end of the 1986 season. The only reason I stopped there is because Mark McGwire, who won the award with the Athletics in 1987, is still eligible to be voted in. If Pete Rose were eligible he would have made 14. So what’s the deal with the other 67 players? This is where things get a little bit interesting.

In 13 of those years from 1947-1986 there has been a total of 15 players who didn’t win the Rookie of the Year award who were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. The only exclusion of these years is 1982 as Cal Ripken, Jr. beat out Wade Boggs in the American League that season; however, in nine other years one good rookie season didn’t exactly equate out to a successful career. The most notable of “who would have thought?” Rookie of the Year campaigns came in 1952 when Brooklyn Dodger Joe Black beat out New York Giant Hoyt Wilhelm and Boston Brave Eddie Mathews and in 1954 when St. Louis Cardinal Wally Moon took down the likes of Chicago Cub Ernie Banks and Milwaukie Brave Hank Aaron. Clearly a bunch of no-namers.

My point in all of this is that Puig is off to an amazing start, and his talent really came out during spring training when he hit .517 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 27 games. Based on the pace that Puig is showing he is projected to be one of the best-hitting rookies to ever step onto the field. I would say power-hitting rookies, but McGwire pretty much locked that one up when he crushed 49 home runs in his rookie campaign.

Do I think Puig is a solid, all-around player? Yes. Do I think Puig will be a frontline competitor for the National League Rookie of the Year award this season? Yes, but with stiff competition from New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey. Do I think Puig is the real deal? It certainly appears to look like it, but has history has proven, we’ll need more time to really know for sure.