Our first awards announcements came today, with the Rookie of the Year awards announced in both the American and National Leagues. Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays won a closely contested race in the AL, while Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves swept the voting in the National League. The staff of the Outside Corner chose Kimbrel to win the NL’s award, and Michael Pineda of the Seattle Mariners to win the AL award. AL winner Hellickson actually finished eighth in our voting.
Hellickson won the AL award with 102 points and 17 first place votes. Mark Trumbo of the Angels was second with 63 points and five first place votes. Eric Hosmer of the Royals was third with 38 points and four first place votes, and Ivan Nova of the Yankees was fourth with one first place vote and 30 votes. Our winner Pineda finished fifth with 11 points, and his Mariners teammate Dustin Ackley finished sixth with 6 points and one first place vote. Desmond Jennings and Jordan Walden also received one point each. Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays, fifth in our voting, shockingly didn’t receive a single point.
Over in the senior circuit, it was all Kimbrel, who received all of the 32 votes for 160 points. Braves teammate Freddie Freeman was the runner up with 70 points, and division rival Vance Worley of the Phillies finished third with 40 points. Another NL East player, Wilson Ramos of the Nationals, finished fourth with six points, and Josh Collmenter of the Diamondbacks finished fifth with five points. Danny Espinosa, our runner up, received just one second place vote, good for three points and sixth place. Darwin Barney of the Cubs and Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers closed out the balloting with two points each. Not receiving any votes was Brandon Beachy of the Braves, who finished fourth in our poll, and Allen Craig of the Cardinals, who finished seventh.
