Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant was unanimously named the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year.
He’s the 20th player overall and 11th in the NL to win the award by unanimous vote. Matt Duffy of the San Francisco Giants came in second place with 70 points to Bryant’s 150.
Los Angeles Dodgers rookie center fielder, who unlike Bryant was in the Majors on Opening Day, received one third-place vote from Marcos Enrique Hernández of Agence France Presses, and finished tied for sixth in voting.
Causing a stir as it relates to MLB service time and reaching free agency, Bryant wasn’t promoted from Triple-A Iowa until April 17. He went on to hit .275/.369/.488 with 26 home runs, 31 doubles, 99 RBIs, a .371 wOBA and 136 wRC+ in 151 games with the Cubs.
Bryant tied for most home runs among rookies, while leading NL rookies in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Additionally, he led all NL batters with 199 strikeouts.
Through April and May, Pederson was among the early candidates for NL Rookie of the Year, if not the frontrunner. However, he slowed as the All-Star Game approached, and his downward trend continued in the second half of the season.
Pederson still managed to tie Bryant for most home runs by a rookie last season (26), and led all rookies with 92 walks; Bryant finished second with 77 walks. Bryant and Pederson tied for the rookie lead with 151 games played in 2015.
Pederson finished the season batting .210/.346/.417 with the aformentioned 26 home runs, 19 doubles, 54 RBIs, a .335 wOBA and 115 wRC+. Pederson said recently his offseason work will include aiming find more consistency at the plate.
Houston Astros Carlos Correa was named American League Rookie of the Year. He received 17 first-place and 13 second-place votes, finishing with 124 points and ahead of Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians, who had 13 first-place and 14 second-place votes, good for a total of 109 points.
