This week will produce some interesting results in MLB awards voting. The AL MVP is a toss-up, the NL MVP and NL Cy Young could go several directions, and the Manager of the Year races are never easy to predict.
The two Rookie of the Year races, however, provided absolutely zero drama.
On Monday evening, MLB announced that Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge had unanimously won AL Rookie of the Year and Dodgers first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger had unanimously earned the NL version. It was only the fourth time in baseball history that both Rookies of the Year have been decided unanimously.
This is only the fourth time that the Rookie of the Year winner in each league has been unanimous. pic.twitter.com/XSspUjvHn2
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 13, 2017
We’ll start with Judge, who led the AL in home runs (52), runs scored (128), walks (127) and FanGraphs WAR (8.2) and finished second in on-base percentage (.422), slugging (.627), OPS (1.049), wRC+ (173) and Baseball-Reference WAR (8.1). He hit twice as many home runs and posted THREE TIMES as much FanGraphs WAR as any other AL rookie on his way to what could be an MVP season.
Judge also earned a reputation as the most fearsome slugger in baseball, thanks to some absolutely towering home runs (including the longest of the season in MLB) and rocket line drives.
In 2017, @TheJudge44 had:
– The hardest HR in #Statcast history (121.1 mph)
– The longest HR of the year (495 ft)
– The most barrels in MLB (87)
– The highest avg. exit velo in MLB (94.9 mph)Now the @Yankees slugger has an AL Rookie of the Year Award, too. pic.twitter.com/y4VS4KUz1k
— #Statcast (@statcast) November 13, 2017
Judge becomes the second Yankee ever, joining Derek Jeter, to earn the AL Rookie of the Year award unanimously. After winning the award, he shared a fairly adorable moment with his parents before giving a characteristically dry interview on MLB Network.
Precious. pic.twitter.com/eAiYncPIjc
— Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) November 13, 2017
Bellinger did not have quite as good a year as Judge did (because almost no one did), but he did lead all NL rookies in home runs (39), RBIs (97) and both versions of WAR (4.0 on FanGraphs, 4.2 on B-Ref).
Bellinger also earned some Statcast-related accolades, with the best home-run rate of any left-handed hitter with 300 or more batted balls.
Among 67 LHB with 300+ batted balls in 2017, @Dodgers All-Star @Cody_Bellinger was:
– 1st in HR rate (11.6%)
– 3rd in hard-hit rate (45.7%)
– 4th in barrel rate (12.2%)That’s how you slug yourself to an NL Rookie of the Year Award! pic.twitter.com/ENHJJ0XPHg
— #Statcast (@statcast) November 13, 2017
Paul DeJong finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, with Josh Bell third and Rhys Hoskins fourth. In the AL, Andrew Benintendi finished second, followed by Trey Mancini and Matt Olson.
Complete voting results can be found here for the NL and here for the AL.