The baseball world was given a jolt on the third of June. With the Los Angeles Dodgers a dismal eight games under-.500 and 7.5 games back of the first place Arizona Diamondbacks, Yasiel Puig was promoted from Double-A Chattanooga.

Puig became a force in the batter's box over his first month in the Major leagues, hitting a blistering .436 with seven homers and 16 RBI. His glove and throwing arm gave Dodgers fans something to cheer for as he rifled throws from right field and chased down fly balls reminiscent of another L.A. rookie the season before. Puig's unprecedented debut garnered him National League Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month honors, the first time the feat had been achieved by someone in their first month of service.

Accolades came from all corners. Nightly mentions and special highlights could be seen on every major sports show in the nation, giving Puig overnight recognition from coast to coast. His demeanor has helped carry his stardom to another level. Puig is cocky and a bit of a showboat, flipping his bat after big home runs and shooting smirks after tremendous catches.

All of this attention, in one of the world's largest sports markets, can inflate someone's ego. Though his bat has cooled (his average has dipped .90 points since June), his temper has not and Puig remains one of the most polarizing players in sports.

Even with Puig setting the world ablaze since his arrival in Los Angeles, there is a man in a much smaller market who can steal the Rookie of the Year Award away: Miami's tenacious 21 year-old right-hander, Jose Fernandez.

After Miami's usual fire sale shipped Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle to the Toronto Blue Jays last offseason, the youth movement began. No one could predict just how bad the Marlins would be, but the biggest bright spot would come from one of the game's best young hitters, Giancarlo Stanton. The right-fielder, who has missed time because of injury, is hitting .249/.365/.468 with 18 home runs and 43 RBIs in 411 plate appearances. His production has dipped from 2012, but he only turns 24 in November.

Fernandez isn't a slugger, but he has been far more productive than Stanton. Fernandez has accumulated 5.5 WAR this season, more than three times Stanton's total (1.8).

Like Puig, Fernandez defected from Cuba to pursue a career in Major League Baseball. After the Marlins dealt the bulk of their payroll and veteran talent, the roster opened up and set the table for Fernandez to showcase his abilities this spring en route to a spot on the Opening Day roster.

As is the case with most rookie pitchers, there was a learning curve for Fernandez. In his third start, he gave up five earned runs in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds, five days later he allowed four earned in a loss to the Minnesota Twins. Since taking the mound April 23 against the Twins, Fernandez has allowed more than three runs in a game just once.

Puig is much more of an attraction than Fernandez because of all the attention his highlight plays receive across numerous networks. His unbelievable catches and sky-high homers make him more appealing to the casual fan, but what Fernandez has achieved at such a young age is mind-blowing. The quality of pitching in the National League is also hindering Fernandez's ability to gain notoriety.

His 10 wins have him in a five-way tie for 22nd in the NL. Fernandez's 173 strikeouts rank first among all rookies, but have him just ninth in the NL. If he were pitching in the American League, Fernandez would be leading the league with a microscopic 2.33 ERA, good for a .35 cushion over Anibal Sanchez. In the NL, he sits behind Puig's teammate, Clayton Kershaw (1.89), and the newly-injured New York Mets sensation Matt Harvey (2.27).

Fernandez has near-historic numbers as a rookie pitcher, yet his incredible performance (over the course of the full season) may be overshadowed by the fact that he's competing against two stellar pitchers in much larger markets for the Cy Young and the Cuban incarnation of Charlie Hustle for Rookie of the Year honors.

When voters make their selections at the end of the season, they'll most likely choose the player that grabbed the nation's attention and helped carry a last place team to a division title in one breathtaking summer.

In spite of that, Jose Fernandez is doing all he can to steal votes away from Yaisel Puig -- all while making every fifth day feel vitally important for a last-place team.