Corey Seager and Mike Fulmer need to clear room on their mantles for some new hardware.
On Monday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop and Detroit Tigers pitcher were named the National League and American League Rookies of the Year, respectively.
Seager won the NL award unanimously, while Fulmer held off New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez to take home the AL honors, according to BBWAA.com:
Seager was a runaway winner on the NL side for good reason.
Over the course of his first full MLB campaign, Seager solidified himself as one of the league’s most impactful batters. The 22-year-old batted .308 with a .365 on-base percentage and .512 slugging percentage across 687 plate appearances.
The Dodgers congratulated him on Twitter:
The Silver Slugger Award winner also smashed 26 home runs and drove in 72 runs—marks that ranked first and third, respectively, among all NL shortstops.
Furthermore, Seager’s 7.5 wins above replacement paced all MLB shortstops and ranked fifth among all players behind Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, Mookie Betts and Josh Donaldson.
“For being as young as he is, he’s got an old-school mentality,” Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley said, according to the Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Shaikin. “He plays the game and lets his actions speak louder than his words.”
Thanks to that mindset, Seager qualified as a finalist for NL MVP in addition to Rookie of the Year during a season that saw him nab an All-Star berth and cement his status as a rising star.
And as CBSSports.com’s Jonah Keri noted, “It’s not unreasonable for Dodgers fans to close their eyes and wonder if they might be watching the start of a Derek Jeter-like career in L.A.”
In the AL, Fulmer staved off Sanchez after the 23-year-old catcher hit home runs at record rates following his call-up on Aug. 2.
Although Sanchez only needed 49 games to hit 20 home runs, he didn’t have time on his side. By virtue of his late-season arrival, Sanchez was limited to 53 games and 229 plate appearances.
Conversely, Fulmer debuted on April 29 and held his own in a rotation that already boasted Justin Verlander.
The 23-year-old went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.119 WHIP and 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings as a rookie, and his 4.9 wins above replacement ranked eighth among all AL pitchers. According to Sports Illustrated‘s Jay Jaffe, that mark was the highest of any American League rookie pitcher since Jonathan Papelbon posted a tally of 5.0 in 2006.
MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter also noted that Fulmer’s 1.119 WHIP is the 11th-lowest among the 182 rookies with at least 25 starts since 1920.
“He’s got a great mentality on the mound. He’s got great stuff, so he’s going out there and attacking guys and having a lot of success,” Verlander said, according to ESPN.com’s Katie Strang. “It’s been a real shot in the arm for our team.”
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com.
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