FanSided’s AL Rookie of the Year Award: Eric Hosmer

Note: Every writer who is a member of the FanSided Family was given the opportunity to vote for who we thought deserved to win multiple awards this season. The awards we voted for were Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Reliever of the Year, Starting Pitcher of the Year, and of course MVP (Most Valuable Player). Every writer for a team in the AL only voted for AL players. Each winner will be announced on FanSided’s general baseball blog, Call to the Pen. However, I will also post the winner every time it is released on the site, give you a link to the article, and throw in my own opinions.

Call to the Pen recently announced the next winner, this time it was the Rookie of the Year Awards. Again, we were asked to vote for our top three picks. Number one I voted for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Mark Trumbo who seemed to do damage in every game he played in. Second, I had a guy the O’s saw a lot of, rookie starter Jeremy Hellickson with the Rays. He had a very impressive season, even more so than Britton. If Britton didn’t have that middle-of-the-year slump/time in Norfolk to keep his innings in check, he’d be a strong candidate. Finally, I had Ivan Nova, another rookie we saw a lot of, the Yankees starter who finished with a 16-4 record and 3.70 ERA. He finished 4th in voting.

However, I yet again did not vote for the winner. The Kansas City Royals displayed quite a few newbies this season but none impressed like Eric Hosmer. He played in 128 games this season finishing with a .293 batting average, .334 on-base percentage, 19 home runs, 27 doubles, and 78 RBI. He finished just 7 points ahead of one of my votes, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson finished with a 13-10 record, a 2.95 ERA, 117 strikeouts in 189 innings, and a 1.15 WHIP. Finally, Mark Trumbo came in third place. He led all the rookies in the majors with 31 doubles, 29 home runs, and 87 RBI. Obviously, I thought that was good enough for first place.

To see the full article and who else made it in the top of the list, go here!

The Rookie of the Year winner for the NL is Craig Kimbrel, the Atlanta Braves stud closer. He won by a landslide, racking up 46 saves this season, only 3 behind Jose Valverde, who led the league in saves. He also struck out 127 batters in only 77 innings pitched. In second was another Braves guy, first basemen Freddie Freeman. In third was a guy just down the Belt Way by the name of Danny Espinosa, playing second base for the Nationals. See the rest of the list and a more detailed post about the NL Rookies here!.

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