Welcome to the NL notebook, a weekly look at players, topics, and trends around the Senior Circuit. This week we check in on the Braves’ youth movement, Kris Bryant’s plate discipline, Raimel Tapia’s strange stat profile and more.

The Braves added yet another ferociously talented young hitter this week. Ho-hum.

Austin Riley, who was obliterating Triple-A pitching, arrived earlier than expected and not at the position where the Braves figured. But when you slug almost .700 at Triple-A, you force some decisions. So now Riley takes his place in a lineup alongside Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson. That’s the core of a championship-caliber lineup, especially when you add in “old man” Freddie Freeman at 29 years old.

It’s safe to say, then, that the Braves have nailed the most important part of their rebuild. The future of the Braves lineup has arrived, and it’s awfully good. Now about that pitching.

The first round of Atlanta’s rebuild actually centered on pitchers, names like Matt Wisler, Aaron Blair and Lucas Sims. But it wasn’t until the hitters started emerging that things really turned around.

If you look at the most successful rebuilds, this is how it’s done. The Cubs built around a core of offensive players, adding pitching from the outside. The Astros did the same. The Mets had a moment with their young starters, but they’ve struggled to keep them healthy.

If the Braves are going to have another run of glory, it’s going to be on the backs of Acuña, Albies, Riley, and Swanson. Some of their phalanx of young pitchers will work out, of course. They have a ton of them, and Mike Soroka and Max Fried look terrific. But this time last year, so did Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb. Young pitchers are tricky.

The template of those Cubs and Astros teams suggests that the Braves will also need to add -- get their Verlander or Cole, their Lester or Arrieta. That’s easier said than done, and if Fried and Soroka and Ian Anderson work out, maybe they’ll buck the trends. But based on history, to some extent what they get from homegrown pitching is gravy. The key to the rebuild is the hitters. And the hitters are special.

Player of the week

Perhaps you have noticed that Kris Bryant has heated up recently. Perhaps it’s been talked about a bit.

Most of the talk, though, has been about what happens when Bryant hits the ball. Dating back to April 17, Bryant sports a .305/.453/.671 line, with 15 extra-base hits in 23 games as the Cubs have gone 17-7.

Just as impressive as Bryant’s contact, though, is his command of the strike zone. Over that same span, he’s one of 10 NL players who have slugged at least .600, but the only one of those with at least 20 walks. His 13 strikeouts over that time are the second-fewest of any NL player who has slugged .600, trailing only teammate Anthony Rizzo with nine.

Bryant’s hitting the ball hard, and that’s great. But he’s also taking his walks and avoiding strikeouts, and that combination could have him in line for an enormous year.

Stat of the week

The Rockies’ Raimel Tapia is an exciting young player. He’s speedy, with seven triples in 312 career big league at-bats, 153 steals over eight seasons in the Minors. He has power, slugging .578. But somehow, he has a hard time getting those last 90 feet unless he drives himself in.

Tapia has 32 hits and six walks this year. He has five homers, four triples, and eight doubles -- 15 extra-base hits. And he’s scored … 12 runs. No other player with at least 15 extra-base hits and 35 times on base has fewer than 16 runs. And the list of guys on that leaderboard includes names like Yadier Molina, Franmil Reyes and Nelson Cruz.

Tapia has driven himself in five times, and scored seven other times. And that’s with four triples. While playing half his games at Coors Field.

Award battle of the week

Yes, it’s too early to talk about awards. It’s May. We can just grant that up front.

Still.

The battle of NL rookies is already a heck of a race. It starts with Pete Alonso and Chris Paddack, and whatever this was. Alonso came roaring out of the gate, though he’s been relatively quiet lately. Paddack is pitching like a Cy Young contender. But it doesn’t stop with those two.

Alex Verdugo of the Dodgers is raking, and with A.J. Pollock out indefinitely, he’s going to play. Christian Walker is an unconventional rookie, but he’s punishing the ball. Nick Senzel and Riley also seem likely to be factors.

On the pitching side, Soroka is making history. And Nick Anderson might be the most dominant reliever in the NL. This award looked like Fernando Tatis Jr.’s to lose, then it looked like a two-man race. But it’s a long way from over. This is quite a class of rookies.

Looking ahead: Series of the week

It’s far too early to concede anything to anybody at this point, but it’s also fair to think that the Dodgers are a pretty strong favorite in the NL West. They have the leading Most Valuable Player Award candidate, arguably the leading Cy Young Award candidate, and depth for days.

With that said, none of their competitors have completely eliminated themselves yet, and the D-backs and Padres are staying close enough to keep it interesting. That’s why their series next week is a big deal. It’s tough to imagine that both San Diego and Arizona will nip at the Dodgers’ heels all year long -- but one of them definitely might. They play three games in San Diego, starting Monday, that may help the race take a little more shape.