AMERICAN LEAGUE

AL Rookie of the Year voting    
Name, Team1st2nd3rdPoints
Michael Fulmer, Tigers264 142
Gary Sanchez, Yankees423291
Tyler Naquin, Indians 21420
Chris Devenski, Astros 147
Edwin Diaz, Mariners  44
Nomar Mazara, Rangers  44
Tim Anderson, White Sox  22

Many thought this vote would be much closer than it ultimately was. In the end, the arm beat the bat.

Gary Sanchez was insanely good blasting his way to a 1.032 OPS. Underlying that stellar mark was a .657 SLG, off the charts elite, thanks to 20 big flies in a mere 53 games as he also drove in 42 runners. If he had played twice as many games he likely would have won the award. Thinking back, I was struck by the effort of Willie McCovey in 1959 who actually appeared in one fewer game on his way to the Rookie of the Year Award (.354/.429/.656). The difference for Willie is that he didn’t have competition like Sanchez did.

The winner of the award was obviously Michael Fulmer.

The Tigers lost Shane Greene to injury which opened up a spot for Fulmer in the rotation, and he stepped right through it on his way to being named the winner on 26 of 30 ballots (he was the only rookie named on all ballots) and the fifth Tiger to win the award (Justin Verlander in 2006, Lou Whitaker in 1978, Mark Fidrych in 1976 and Harvey Kuenn in 1953.).

The highlight of the year for Fulmer was a 33-inning scoreless streak in May and June as he allowed one or no runs in eight straight starts. Fulmer went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.12 ERA over the course of 159 innings. He just missed out on qualifying for the ERA title, you need 162 innings pitched for that, but his 3.06 ERA would have been third in the AL. He did slow appreciably of late with a 5.54 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over his last seven outings, but overall one heck of a season for the righty.

Don’t forget the Tyler Naquin who had one hell of a season in Cleveland with a .296/.372/.514 slash line as he blasted 14 homers with 43 RBI and 52 runs scored over 365 plate appearances.  

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NL Rookie of the Year voting    
Player, Club1st2nd3rdPoints
Corey Seager, Dodgers30  150
Trea Turner, Nationals 11942
Kenta Maeda, Dodgers 11437
Trevor Story, Rockies 7324
Aledmys Diaz, Cardinals 11114
Jon Gray, Rockies  11
Steven Matz, Mets  11
Seung Hwan Oh, Cardinals  11

The NL award went to the gent who is also a finalist for the NL MVP award as Corey Seager was the unanimous winner of the rookie award in the Senior Circuit. Seager became the 15th to win the award unanimously the last 30 years, right on the heels of Kris Bryant in 2015 and Jose Abreu in 2014. He is also the 21st to win the award unanimously in the history of the award and is the 17th Dodger to win the freshman trophy which is named after former Dodger Jackie Robinson.

Seager may or may not have won the award if Trevor Story stayed healthy all season, but it’s pretty hard to look past the numbers that Kyle Seager’s younger brother posted in his first full season that led to an NL Silver Slugger Award and the Players Choice Award for Outstanding NL Rookie. Seager hit 26 homers, a franchise record for a shortstop, and he also set Dodger rookie records in hits (193), runs (105) and doubles (40). The 193 hits are the most by a first year player since 2001 (Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols). Seager also joined Pujols, Dusty Baker and Mike Piazza as the only rookies, since 1969 (the divisional era), to rank in the top-10 in the NL in batting average (.308) and slugging percentage (.512). "He is everything that is good about our game," said manager Dave Roberts. "I look forward to watching him continue to grow and help lead the Dodgers to a championship."

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).