Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager was named the 21st unanimous selection for the 2016 National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award. Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda and Washington Nationals utility man Trea Turner rounded out the group of finalists.
Turner and Maeda tied with 11 second-place votes, though Turner received nine third-place votes to Maeda’s four, and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting with 42 points. Maeda had 37 overall points, finishing ahead of Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (24 points).
Seager is the 17th Dodgers player in franchise history to win Rookie of the Year, and first since Todd Hollandsworth in 1996. Hollandsworth was the last of five consecutive Dodgers rookies to win the award.
Mike Piazza (1993) and Raul Mondesi (1994) are the only other Dodgers to unanimously win Rookie of the Year.
Seager, who took home a Silver Slugger last week, joins Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Piazza (1993) as Dodgers rookies to be named the top offensive player in the NL at their respective position and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
The 22-year-old shortstop batted .308/.365/.512 with a 137 OPS+, .372 wOBA and 137 wRC+ over a career-high 157 games. He led qualified Dodgers in batting average, on-base percentage, total hits (193), doubles (40), triples (five) and was second in home runs (26).
Seager led qualified NL shortstops in doubles, home runs, batting average, slugging, wOBA, wRC+, was second in OBP and third in RBI. He broke the Los Angeles franchise record for most hits in a single season by a rookie, which previously held by Steve Sax (180 hits in 1982).
Seager also set a Dodgers franchise record for most home runs by a shortstop in a season, broke Eric Karros’ rookie record for most doubles (30), and with 321 total bases broke Mike Piazza’s rookie record (307).
Next for Seager may be an NL MVP Award, though Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant is the favorite. Seager was previously named NL Rookie of the Year by Baseball America and Sporting News and won the Players Choice Award for NL Outstanding Rookie.
