Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II and the Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez were named respective National League and American League winners of the 2022 Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award.
Harris received 22 first-place votes and 134 overall points to earn the honor. Braves teammate Spencer Strider finished in second place with eight first-place votes and 103 points. St. Louis Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan was the third finalist with 22 points.
Harris is the ninth Braves player to be named NL Rookie of the Year and the first since Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2018. Furthermore, Harris and Strider became the fourth pair of teammates to finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting since 1980.
Harris was selected by the Braves in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and prior to this year, had not played above the Double-A level. Despite not making his MLB debut until May 28, Harris led all NL rookies with 5.3 WAR.
The 21-year-old hit .297/.339/.514 with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 64 RBI and 20 stolen bases across 114 games while playing elite defense in center field.
Harris finished one home run shy of becoming just the second NL rookie to record 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
Julio Rodríguez named AL Rookie of the Year
Rodríguez received 29 first-place votes and 148 overall points to earn AL Rookie of the Year honors. The Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman finished in second place with one first-place vote and 68 points. Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan was the third finalist with 44 points.
Rodríguez is the fifth Mariners player to be named AL Rookie of the Year and the first since Kyle Lewis in 2020. What’s more, Rodríguez became just the ninth position player to earn an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger Award and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season.
Rodríguez was signed by the Mariners as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. Like with Harris, he never played above the Double-A level prior to this year.
Rodríguez batted .284/.345/.509 with 25 doubles, 28 home runs, 75 RBI and 25 stolen bases across 132 games while playing solid defense in center field.
Rodríguez became the first player with at least 25 homers and 25 stolen bases in his debut season and is the fastest to reach those feats (125 games).
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