Craig Kimbrel and Jeremy Hellickson were announced Monday as the respective NL and AL Rookie of the Year. I was correct in my predictions for how the rookie voting would go, though Hellickson won the AL much easier than I expected. I still would have voted for Eric Hosmer myself! This was the first pair of pitchers to win since 1981, when Fernando Valenzuela and Dave Righetti took home the awards. What fond memories of Fernando mania and of Dave Righetti I have… man, I am getting old!
National League Voting:
Craig Kimbrel – 160 points – 32 first place votes
Freddie Freeman – 70 points – 0 first place votes
Vance Worley – 40 points – 0 first place votes
Kimbrel’s season – 55.2 IP, 127 K’s, 4-3 record, 46 SV, 1.04 WHIP, 2.10 ERA
Freeman’s season – 157 GP, 67 R, 21 HR, 76 RBI, 4 SB, .282 AVG, .795 OPS
Worley’s season – 21 GS, 119 K’s, 11-3 record, 1.23 WHIP, 3.01 ERA
American League Voting:
Jeremy Hellickson – 102 points – 17 first place votes
Mark Trumbo – 63 points – 5 first place votes
Eric Hosmer – 38 points – 4 first place votes
Ivan Nova – 30 points – 1 first place vote
Hellickson’s season – 29 GS, 117 K’s, 13-10 record, 1.15 WHIP, 2.95 ERA
Trumbo’s season – 149 GP, 65 R, 29 HR, 87 RBI, 9 SB, .254 AVG, .768 OPS
Hosmer’s season – 128 GP, 66 R, 19 HR, 78 RBI, 11 SB, .293 AVG, .799 OPS
Nova’s season – 27 GS, 98 K’s, 16-4 record, 1.33 WHIP, 3.70 ERA
NL Comments:
Craig Kimbrel, the Atlanta Braves closer, won in a landslide! Kimbrel correctly received all 32 first place votes to make the vote unanimous in the NL for the first time since Albert Pujols won in 2001. Kimbrel had a monster season, especially impressive when you take into account it was his rookie year and that he is only 23 years old! His season included, tied for first in saves with 46, tied for second in appearances with 79, 38 straight appearances without a run at one point, and an overpowering 127 strikeouts in just 77 innings, phew! Kimbrel was probably over used and it showed down the stretch run as the Braves faded. We shall have to closely monitor if this will affect the young pitcher going forward.
The Atlanta Braves have to be excited, also having another young rookie in the 22 year old Freddie Freeman. It took the young Freeman a couple of months to get completely comfortable in the majors. He hit only .225 in April but then stepped up in May with a .312 Average. Kimbrel and Freeman are the first pair of NL teammates to be voted 1-2 since 1989, when the Chicago Cubs had Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith in the outfield. I actually played fantasy baseball using both players! Oh man, I am getting old.
And finally, as if the Philadelphia Phillies needed any more starting pitching, the 24 year old Vance Worley showed up to help deepen the National Leagues’ already deepest rotation… scary!
The Atlanta Braves have to be excited, also having another young rookie in the 22 year old Freddie Freeman. It took the young Freeman a couple of months to get completely comfortable in the majors. He hit only .225 in April but then stepped up in May with a .312 Average. Kimbrel and Freeman are the first pair of NL teammates to be voted 1-2 since 1989, when the Chicago Cubs had Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith in the outfield. I actually played fantasy baseball using both players! Oh man, I am getting old.
And finally, as if the Philadelphia Phillies needed any more starting pitching, the 24 year old Vance Worley showed up to help deepen the National Leagues’ already deepest rotation… scary!
AL Comments:
The 24 year old Jeremy Hellickson won as easily as he did probably because of the voters paying attention to the division he pitches in. No one can argue that the AL East division doesn’t have the hardest lineups to face in all of baseball. And with Tampa making a strong run during the last month of the season, Hellickson shined in his 5 September starts. Many voters are swayed by a player’s strong finish as much as any factor (true for all the major awards).The powerful 25 year old Trumbo soared into 2nd in the AL voting on the strength of his 29 homeruns and 87 ribbies. Both are very impressive totals for a rookie! But, I would have thought that the voters would have looked deeper, and seen the all around solid season that Eric Hosmer had. The 22 year old Hosmer played in 20 games fewer than Trumbo, but still had favorably comparable counting stats in Runs, RBI and SB, while having a far superior batting average and OPS. Trumbo has only one advantage over Hosmer and that is raw power. Trumbo will one day hit 40 homers without a doubt. It might come with a .240 average and 150+ strikeouts, but there is no doubting Trumbo’s raw power. Trumbo hit 2 of the three longest bombs in the AL last year, one for 472 feet!
Finally, I showed where Ivan Nova finished in the voting, since many Yankee fans probably think he should have won. The 24 year old Nova had a very solid season everyone can agree. 16 wins and a 3.70 ERA in the pressure cooker of New York is nothing to be ashamed of! But Nova did have the 3rd highest run support in the league with 6.7 runs a game and he needs to show more consistency than his 1.33 WHIP. On the positive side, Nova showed a ton of moxy the second half of the season after being sent down briefly to the minors. Yankee fans have a lot to be excited for with Nova. And, hopefully, I will never get too old to see (and enjoy) all these young players having fine careers!
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