Precocious Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna has slugged his way to a National League Rookie of the Year Award, while two-way Angels star Shohei Ohtani took the top honors in the American League. While there were strong alternatives in both cases, these two players were the runaway favorites of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters. Juan Soto of the Nationals and Miguel Andujar of the Yankees were the respective runners up.
The 20-year-old Acuna burst onto the scene in 2018, launching 26 home runs and swiping 16 bags in 486 trips to the plate. He ended the season with a stellar .293/.366/.552 batting line. Already viewed as one of the game’s most exciting talents entering the 2018 campaign, Acuna now seems poised to take his place among the very best players in the majors.
It seemed at one point as if Juan Soto — who is even younger than Acuna — would run away with things in the NL. But Acuna went on a tear to end the season, helping lead his club to a stunning NL East title. Both of those players appear likely to clash in thrilling fashion well into the future in the division. (Things will presumably remain friendly, as the two seem to have hit it off on tour in Japan.) And it’ll also be fascinating to watch them each step into the box against third-place finisher Walker Buehler of the Dodgers, who had an exceptional debut season from the mound.
The trio of AL finalists was rather an exciting one as well. Ohtani, 24, staked out a position as the most fascinating baseball player on the planet by turning in high-end performances from the mound and the batter’s box. Primarily lauded for his promise as a hurler, Ohtani exceeded expectations with ten starts of 3.31 ERA ball with 11.0 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. While his time on the bump was curtailed by a UCL surgery that ultimately required Tommy John surgery, Ohtani proved stunningly productive with the bat as well. Though he benefited from platoon usage, and was limited to DH usage, Ohtani actually bested Acuna and Soto in wRC+ (152 vs. 143 and 146, respectivey).
Andujar was the clear number two in the minds of voters, taking all of the five first-place votes that did not go to Ohtani. The 23-year-old’s output wasn’t quite as eye-popping as those of the others discussed in this post, but he did it over a full season. Andujar ended up popping 27 long balls with a .297/.328/.527 slash in 606 plate appearances, though his glovework did not receive glowing reviews. Unless things are shaken up by trade, he’ll presumably pair with fellow Yankees infielder and third-place AL ROY finisher Gleyber Torres for years to come.
Wanted Andujar, but if he were ever to lose ROY, guess should be fine, losing to injured Babe Ruth reincarnation
“Andujar led all major league rookies in hits (170) doubles (47) extra-base hits (76) and multi-hit games (53).
Tied for rookie lead in homers (27) 2nd in BA (.297).”
Injured or not, Ohtani had a bigger impact. He was the rightful winner.
Andujar had the bigger impact (Posted this in poll)
“Andujar picked up for injuries (Judge, Gregorius) and underperformance (Sanchez, Bird).
““He was a constant for them. He was the guy that stayed healthy and produced at a consistent level with many big hits,.”
Andujar contributed more to 100 win team in pennant race. Angels missed the playoffs, and Ohtani missed month.
Counting stats and overall team performance are poor criteria for these awards.
Ohtani was the best AL rookie this year.
Played on a near world series team with mvp candiate in judge and stanton. Please stop with your ignorant bias
What does that mean? How do you judge a player but on what they do – also called stats
I said ‘counting stats’. Not stats in general.
Andujar -2.7 fWAR batting with a wRC+ of 128
Ohtani- 2.8 fWAR batting with a wRC+ of 152 and 1.0 fWAR pitching
so yeah, he not only pitched, he outhit Andujar too, by 24% over an avg batter too, it was’t particularly close
Agree. You don’t give the award for potential or novelty- you give it for production over the season. What a joke- typical though. Just like when they gave MVP toClemens over Mattingly, but Guidry didn’t win in ‘78. They gave it to Rice
Ohtani didn’t play nearly a full year, and when he came back was only a DH. Totally undeserved.
Yet Andujar was a DH masquerading as an infielder, and played some of the worst 3B defense in modern history.
Great argument, Skip.
Yah, I’m not sure you can use defense in Andujar’s favor. I guess you can say he “played defense,” but it certainly didn’t add any value.
Not “played defense”. A more accurate statement about Andujar is “stood on the field when the Yankees were pitching”.
Andujar’s defense is abysmal at best
Andujar was also a true rookie. If you have played for pay at the top level in another country, you should not be considered a rookie. I don’t follow soccer but if an American has played professionally here and then goes to a European league, is he considered for a ROTY award? I don’t know if they have such an award in soccer but you get the point.
I don’t remember the Clemens/Mattingly argument but in 78 both Rice and Guidry had record breaking years. Rice was the first player in MANY years to have over 400 total bases and the belief then was give Guidry the CY and Rice the MVP. As great a year as Mattingly had, was it “record braking”?
He got paid nearly $2.5m in salary (not signing bonus) in 2017. That’s not a minor league salary. He was a professional when he came to the U.S. and should not have been eligible. Give the award to a true rookie.
His salary was $545,000 Dewey and he was signed as a MiLB player as per the CBA rules. There is no rule that prohibits him or any other player from the NPB, KBO or CNS from being a rookie. Get over it
That’s ridiculous. Nothing compares to the majors. Other leagues overseas range from AA to AAAA talent. He is deserving of what he earned.
That argument is weak in an mvp discussion. It’s worthless here.
If you’re only going to use advanced stats, you have to use contextual stats as well. BABIP and FIP both indicate that Ohtani benefitted from significant batted ball luck and other biases which inflated his stats. You can’t take WAR-type stats in isolation. He delivered slightly more overall value than Andujar, but it required a fairly large amount of luck to do so. Andujar on the other hand did not benefit from a high BABIP, so the conclusion should be that Andujar earned his line much more than Ohtani did. Furthermore, while I agree with you that counting stats should not be determinative, breaking DiMaggio’s rookie doubles record should not be overlooked, particularly since doubles are not a very dependant stat (like RBI for example) and because counting stats offer some daylight between the two candidates given that one candidate actually did miss significant time.
His ERA was 3.31 and his fip was 3.57 XFIP 3.53. Lets not blow things out of the water here. He was largely the pitcher his bottom line results showed. This also isn’t a predict future success award. It’s a results award. And Ohtani did hit better than andujar. Whether or not you think it’s sustainable is really irrelevant. Either were deserving of this award.
I don’t think pointing out that he would have been about 10% worse on the mound without luck is blowing anything out of the water. Furthermore you are only addressing one of two stats I mentioned. His BABIP indicates that between 15-20% of his offensive result was driven by luck too. Taken together I don’t think that’s insignificant
Some idiocy cannot be fixed. Just downvote like everyone else does, and move on.
I like guys who play ALL year,instead it’s a popularity contest,in the coming years I know who will be the he better players and it won’t be the players that won the ROY
Andy jar benefitted from little league fences as do all yankee hitters. They should not even be eligible for awards.
Well in that case the pitchers on your crappy team should not be eligible for awards because the fences are too far away and they all benefit from it
You do know FIP is just an ERA estimator? There are hundreds of guys who FIP’s are two tenths of a run off their ERA. A 3.51 FIP wouldn’t signal he wasn’t a quality pitcher either. And you’re assuming all balls put in play are equal. Ohtani’s hard contact rate was 43% to 36% for andujar. Ohtani only posted soft contact in 10% of his ABS compared to 19% for andujar. That’s going to have to an impact on your BABIP. He simply hit the ball harder than andujar. That’s not the only reason for that difference and Ohtani is due for some regression in that area but you’re sitting here and crapping on him because he was so “lucky.” That’s just blowing things out of proportion. You have to dig deeper than that. He had a little luck on his side but he had a tremendous season.
You’re also going around the fact that he had a 43% hard contact rate and only a 10% soft contact rate (!). You can’t just look at BABIP and say “oh this player was lucky” there are many factors going into a players BABIP.
I’m not going around quality of contact. I’m almost completely ignoring it. 367 at-bats is not a big enough sample size for the quality of contact ratios to be very meaningful. In my analysis I did give him a slight boost for his base running skills
How did he have a bigger impact? He pitched a few innings and batted? With TJ surgery coming up, wouldn’t be surprised if he is a one way player within 3 years
And he’ll still likely be more valuable than Andujar – and many, many other hitters.
Even if that is the case he was a two-way player THIS YEAR. The award is concerning this year and this year alone.
He had such a huge impact that his team had a losing record and didn’t make the playoffs.
It’s not called the “Rookie with the best surrounding talent award”.
But the guy that won was teammates with Mike Trout
How did he back a bigger impact?
Lol do you people not look at numbers? Last time i checked 155 ops+ > 122 yankee trolls are the best
Ops+ with 200 less at bats equals better? 970 ops vs 872. Both are rather good, but that extra 200 at bats has to count for something. I don’t think Ohtani had him clear beat in Offense. It was the novelty of having more than 50 innings pitched (and doing it well)
Then it’s not a novelty, is it?
He produced. Simple as that. You are literally tripping over your own argument.
so are the Dodgers in the ws. back to back chumps
Pat venditte is a novelty. Ohtani is a superstar.
Wrong . His team was under .500 didn’t play one meaningful or pressure game all year.
How many games did Ohtani actually play in? Didn’t realize you could win it as a part time player.
104 games as DH/PH and 10 games started as a pitcher. There is no rule saying “X” number of games Dave Righetti won having pitched in 15 games. Ryan Howard won with 329 PA.
Wrong try again
Grow up please. Andujar isn’t as good as you perceive him to be, not even a top 5 3B.
I didnt realize to be ROY you had to already be a top 5 at your position. So which position is Ohtani top 5?
I’m just saying, it’s as if this is an extreme upset as Yankee fans are perceiving it to be. It was close, and overall Ohtani won because of his versatility. If Andujar was “screwed” then I’d assume he is this phenom who proved himself to be top 5 at his position, similarly to how Judge was last year. Not a guy who had a few good months in a hitters park and inflated his offensive numbers while playing terrible defense.
So the award goes to a guy who missed some time and didnt live up to the hype and needs TJ surgery? From day one he was the sportswriter darling.
.285 22 HR 326 AB. 10 GS, 3.32 ERA. Name a player (let alone rookie) who’s put up these numbers in the modern era of baseball in one season.
No offense and not an Angels fan, but he’s living up the hype right now believe it or not.
It doesn’t matter that rookies could make or break a season? Making the actual difference. It is not a knock against amazing rookies on a bad team, it is just showing that Ohtani won because he was a novelty.
It’s amazing – don’t get me wrong. But does that automatically qualify for ROY?
He’s a rookie, who had the best production on the baseball field of all the rookie’s in his league.. What part of that can you not figure out? It’s incredibly simple, but you’re struggling.
Calling him a novelty is flat out ridiculous also. You know what is a novelty though? Andujar’s glove. Because it serves no actual purpose.
Great point! This is the ROY award. Not the best at your position award.
Andujar didn’t have a few good months, you must be confusing him with Ohtani. He was consistent all year long
He just won runner up to ROY having one of the best rookie years on record. Maybe he is better than you are perceiving him to be.
Andujar had the bigger impact, he helped the depleted Yankee lineup to the playoffs while Ohtani did nothing and wasn’t even allowed to face the Yankees.
using old timey counting stats is not going to win you many argument in 2018
“old timey counting stats”
So when a hitter hits a homerun do you go “who cares, it’s a counting stat”?
That’s such a silly statement. Hits, hrs, doubles MEAN SOMETHING. You hit a homerun…you scored a run for your team. You hit a double and your’re in scoring position. A hit means you didn’t make an out. You’re on base. I can absolutely understand if you used WINS as a deceiving stat. because you can get empty wins (Porcello) with a high ERA and a lot of losses or no-decisions despite pitching extremely well (deGrom).
I’m not upset that Ohtani won but to say Andujar’s rookie leading HRS, Hits and doubles mean nothing because they’re counting stats is the BEST example of how a little bit of information in the wrong hands can be misused.
He didn’t win and that’s ok. Beating down is unwarranted tho. He was arguably the best hitter on a 100 win team. And he was clutch (916 OPS wRISP vs .853 w bases empty), 15 of his hrs came with men on base and he was scorching hot in August when Judge was out. He had a .967 in August with Judge on the DL. The rest of the team had a .755 OPS.
Well said.
Meh. If you consider their batting lines to be close enough to push, you add defense vs pitching and that’s where Ohtani wins it to me. He didn’t make 32 starts sure, but he had the overall better year.
Once a sentence begins, “hasn’t been seen since Babe Ruth”; enough said. You know you are witnessing something Special…
Babe Ruth didn’t go on the DL with TJ.
Ohtani didn’t go on the DL for TJ. The day he was told he needed it he was in the lineup and hit a home run.
They didn’t have TJ surgery back then. They all probably pitched with broken ligaments.
I never thought of that, excellent and interesting historical point.
What was andujar’s whip? Anyone, anyone? End of story!
0.00
Andujar wasn’t even good enough to start the deciding game 4 of the ALDS.
Yeah that means a lot. yeesh.
Where was Matt Chapman?
Not a rookie
Pretty sure he wasn’t a rookie this year
Not a rookie
You have to be a rookie to be eligible for ROY.
Wasn’t a rookie
Hey guys was Matt Chapman a rookie this year? I’m not sure
Hold on… I will post a question about it and see if anybody answers. I’ll make sure to let you know!
Where’s the one guy who said Ohtani would be lucky to come fourth lol? He was easily the obvious choice here lmao.
You say that now. He won because he was a novelty. Not obvious at all. It was because of Andujar and Torres the Yankees made it to the post season. Ohtani cannot claim that.
That doesn’t matter. If they traded Ohtani for Torres/Andujar, the Yankees still make the playoffs and the Angels do not. You do not reward or punish guys for individul rewards based on team performance. How does that possibly make sense?
Tell me that when deGrom isn’t up for MVP. He may not even win Cy Young.
You’re right. Ohtani can’t claim to have helped the yankees make the playoffs
Sure he can – he beat the A’s twice and the Mariners once early this year. Clearly affected both teams playoff chances at least as much as their rookies.
On a serious note, he was the most exciting rookie in baseball with his two-way potential.. And I’m a A’s fan, so I hate the Angels and I hate it that he is there. As for Andujar, that dude is a DH or LFer on most other teams. That glove is bad.
first
Nope
Andujar got screwed. Ohtani was signed to primarily be a pitcher and only started what, 6 games, before his elbow blew up?
Bullshit.
He was signed to be a two way player from day one.
But Ohtani was better at hitting and pitching so obviously he was going to win it.
Andujar cannot play defense, a factor which is constantly overlooked by the casual fan.
Ohtani is a DH lol what’s your point?
Can Andujar pitch?
Did Andujar also pitch?
Ohtani can play the OF. If his pitching career ended this year hes the starting LF or RF for the Angels next year
Ohtani is a deserving ROY winner
Better to DH then be the worst defensive third baseman in the game. At this rate, Andujar is gonna have to move to first
Absolutely not. Relax. Too early for that.
I don’t understand the fact that Hidecki Matsui didn’t win the ROY, hearing most voters say that he played in Japan, therefore wasn’t a true rookie. Huh …
He was 29 when he came over, not 23. Huge difference. And Matsui didn’t deserve it that year, anyways.
It’s comments like this that sometimes have me thinking, how? Age has absolutely no relevance whatsoever in this case. None at all. The fact one was 23 and the other 29 means precisely zero. The fact is Ohtani played professional baseball for 5 years prior too coming to the US. It’s an entirely fair point why Matsui wasn’t part of the ballot and I remember well the debate then. It’s actually a great reminder showing the hypocrisy of the rookie system.
Matsui came in 2nd in the balloting. How can you say he was not part of the balloting?
And only received 2 more 1st place votes
I’m no arguing it for my sake, I’m saying that’s the way voters were feeling. I could care less if he was a 39 year old rookie because the award is rookie of the year.
Yes he did . Wake up
In what way? Had a lower WAR, less runs, less homers, less SB, same BA, and a lower OPS.
Sorry for using runs on accident. Disregard that stat.
What does that have to do with anything?
Based on that logic if an eight year minor leaguer has a great first year in the majors he isn’t eligible based on age. Fake news
Matsui was a better hitter that year but it was close. As for your age arguement, Ichiro won it at age 27 so that age argument is a non-issue.
Ohtani is a disaster waiting to happen. Doubt he’ll be an all star. Seems too injury prone. Reminds me of Yu Darvish in a way but better baseball player overall
Thank you for your wisdom.
That is actually pretty good insight. who would ever think that a pitcher who also hits and runs the bases might also get hurt.
“Reminds me of Yu Darvish in a way”
Huh. Wonder what way that is?
I bet Gurriel could help him answer that question.
I don’t want to like this, but it’s too accurate not to
Nothing like awarding a guy that could barely play. Did he get a half season in?
he played in 110 games total. Guess we should go back in time and revoke Ryan Howard’s RoY or Dave Righetti
Haha. Played less but had almost double WAR. Hmmmm….
Oh my god this is pathetic. Yankees fans shut up you are embarrassing yourselves. Take off your blinders dear lord.
He’s no more than a gimmick and will be lucky to put a career together.
That’s not true. I’m sure Andujar will find a career as a DH, but you’re right that pretending he could play 3B was a bad gimmick.
You can make an honest case for either Ohtani or Andujar. Not sure if you can use Ohtani’s combined WAR (2.8 as a hitter and 1.0 as a SP) and say he had nearly double. I mean he didn’t. (3.8 vs 2.7) but it’s not like Andujar had a second way of earning WAR. Obviously, the fact that Ohtani did both is what makes his case stronger. Not sure if it’s fair to fault other rookie position players for NOT pitching too.
Andujar’s second way of adding war was defense….so you’re right, he didn’t have a second way to add war
LOL a lot of these comments have been on point. But this was my favorite.
Weird you would reference a source other than what is linked to in the article. I’m looking at 3.9 vs 2.2 WAR. Who knew that people could cherry pick “facts” to create a straw man. Hmm…
One is truly a rookie while the other isn’t. Regardless, they ultimately picked it right
Counterpoint: many argue that NPB league is comparable in talent to AA or AAA in MLB. Also, Ohtani is only six months Andujar’s elder. So really, one could make the case that Ohtani and Andujar have similar baseball experience.
May be true …on talent assessment.
That argument is centered more on the opportunity to get paid like major-leaguers than the level of competition, I think.
I’m certainly no expert, but everything I’ve read from scouts/etc. says the talent level is comparable (we’re talking AA/AAA vs Nippon, of course).
what does pay matter? If I get offered more from a competitor at my job, that doesn’t give me more experience does it?
“what does pay matter?”
If we agree that the talent level is not better than AAA, then the fact that players in Japan get paid somewhat better than the $90,000 minor leaguers get does matter, since it would seem to be the only distinguishing feature when determining what a rookie is.
Also it is called American League rookie of the year not baseball rookie of the year.
Like Hideo Nono sinning over Chipper Jones?
“Nono sinning over Chipper Jones”…..LOL…I love typos and this is one of the best. Creates some very strange mental images that may be unshake-able.
Lol, a guy who didnt play a full season because of injury won ROY. Shows where these writers’ heads are.
I wasn’t aware that was a requirement.
It was when Sanchez was trying to win ROY. Several writers used it against him
Well that was stupid, too.
53 games vs 110 games is a huge difference in the scheme of a full season. Ohtani deserves it, Andujar and his awful defense did not.
Stop Yank. Sanchez played in 53 games that year. Ohtnai batted in 104 games this year and pitched in 10 more. Ohtani played double the amount than the guy you are trying to compare him to. That doesn’t really back up your narrative at all
Interesting…… you know in 53 games Sanchez had a higher WAR than Fulmer and any other rookie in baseball that year. Also, tied with the lead for most hrs.
Lets just agree that writers are very inconsistent in their logic on how they vote. The criteria they use constantly changes.
+south
I do agree with their criteria constantly changing. I mean, in 2017 they gave the MVP to Altuve over Judge, so surely they would give it to Votto over Stanton, but no. They gave it to Stanton. It’s like, you either like the high .AVG, .OBP guy over the high HR guy or you dont. But if their logic was consistent they shouldve picked one of altuve&votto or judge&stanton in 2017. They cant even keep their thinkings consistent
It’s a double standard, they held it against Sanchez a few years ago just because he’s a Yankee whereas Ohtani was a media darling since day 1.
Sanchez had a better 2016 than ohtani had in 2018
And with 100+ less AB
At the plate of course
AnDuJaR rObBeD!
Maybe he should have robbed a few base hits, instead of looking like a statue.
Guys on here talking smack about Andujar’s glove when a majority of his errors were throwing errors. Shows they don’t watch the games and just parrot things they read.
I knew Andujar was going to get screwed. To win an award as a Yankee, you have to blow the field away. At the very least, the vote should’ve been a lot closer. Andujar was a savior for the Yanks in 2018.
Oh, and people arguing Othani played 110 games……..22 of those games he appeared in as a pinch hitter.
It’s ok, tho, Angels are going nowhere, especially when Trout bolts in 2 years. Enjoy your award and losing for the next 5 years, Shohei.
I didn’t realize throwing wasn’t part of defense
Feeling entitled much? Shows you didn’t watch Ohtani in his games. Nobody got robbed, you sound like those babies saying Trout robbed Betts a few years ago for MVP.
What fantasy baseball world were you watching? Ohtani pitched and hit well above average. As a baseball fan, Yankees fan, I’ve never witnessed anything like it. He deserved it.
“To win an award as a Yankee, you have to blow the field away.” Nope, check out Mattingly in ‘85. He was my favorite player growing up, but Brett had the better year. He didn’t blow anyone away, but still won.
“Glove” is universally used in baseball to denote defense, just as “bat” is a term for offense.
If folks are pointing out poor defensive skills for Andujar, and “throwing the ball to 1B” is high on the job description for a 3B, then yes, he had poor defensive skills..
Apparently, so do you, since yours was an awfully defensive answer.
Ohtani hit .285 with 22 homers in 326 AB. That alone is an outstanding rookie line. The fact that he started 10 games with a 3.32 ERA the reason he won ROY. Andujar may have had outstanding offensive lines but he was just one of many phenomenal yankee hitters. Ohtani provided more value to the Angels in my opinion than Andujar did to the Yankees.
And MLB wonders why fans are turning off the game. This voting was a joke! I expected ohtani to win but giving him 25 of 30 votes and only 5 for Andujar is a joke.
I can pretty much guarantee you this: more casual fans tuned in to see Ohtani than Andujar.
That bearded far lady at the circus was always one of the most attended aspects of the circus. Your point? Of course he was must=see tv. Not sure if that’s relevant.
So since it didn’t go the Yankees way, it’s bad for baseball…gotta love the Yankee frontrunning mentality.
Don’t forget the “he can’t handle the Big Apple” when a player doesn’t sign with them.
I can guarantee you that 99+% of fans won’t remember how many votes either got by the end of the week.
Look I know the Angels were awful this year, but I will say it.
Yankee tears are delicious.
So so so tasty. They know nothing of true pain.
oh please. as if yankees fans cant be jets fans or understand what is like to be a fan of a losing team. get over yourself.
You feed off that? That’s sad.
Ohtani won deservedly, any real fan knows that.
I’m surprised at the voting. I expected these two to win the awards, but I truly thought the voting would be MUCH closer in both leagues, as there were (in my mind) two players in each league that could have won it. Very surprised at the margins.
Great take, and I completely agree. I’m a huge Braves fan, but I certainly thought the voting in both leagues would be significantly closer as well.
Not so sure Ohtani is the man for the AL
Well… he is now since he won the award. Everybody is free to make their own awards on their little blog sites, but when it comes to being the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year in Major League Baseball, that’s Ohtani now.
On Bob’s Baseball Blog, it may be somebody else.
People seem to be inventing their own criteria for the award. The exact same thing happens with the mvp award. The rookie of the Year has nothing to do with his team. It has nothing to do with the individual value of that player to the team. It has absolutely nothing to do with the teams success or lack thereof. The award is simply the best first year player. Who did the best. Period.
Thank You…only the MVP has criteria like “Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.” RoY and CYA do not.
summed up perfectly
I guess ignorance is bliss for most. Ohtani > andujar all day everyday just mad he aint on your team lol
Actually….he’s not that big of a deal to me. I mean, what he did last year was amazing but I was skeptical as to whether he could hold up or not. Now, being honest, I wanted him to sign with the Yanks because he was cheap. Had he been in the same bidding process of his predecessors years ago then I would’ve preferred they didn’t make that investment in him. But for what he signed for, absolutely.
Ohtani screws the Yanks twice in 1 yr love it
Not trying to be a jerk but…..how’d that work out for you guys in 2018? Oh…..right.
Who’s you guys champ?
I believe that ohtani is talented, the problem is he has proved it for years. It’s my opinion that a professional player shouldn’t come to MLB and be eligible for rookie of the year awards. It’s a gimmick and takes away from true rookies.
When a MLB player goes to Japan are they a rookie There? Does anyone know the facts Behind that.
A divisive piece of data everyone seemed to gloss over, k’s.
Ohtani struck out 31.2% of his at bats.
Andujar struck out in 17%.
To me thats a big difference especially when you factor in that andujar had Something like 45% more AB.
2 years ago Gary sanchez Put up better stats in last 2 months of the season then ohtani did all this season. And he did it in 100 fewer AB. So if time or games played or at bats doesn’t matter Then where was the love for sanchez 2 years ago.
Imo there’s an absolute bias against the Yankees in the writers community.
Andujar was a professional baseball player before reaching the bigs, too. He just did it here in the US.
Thats a weak repsonse. You are calling japanese baseball a minor league
No I’m not. I’m saying that it’s comparable in overall talent.
Uh, yes you were. You did it again just now.
Still weak. It’s a non argument trying to define a pro player.
baseball reference has his japanese stats listed as minor league
How is that weak? Japan is equivalent to AA or AAA. Ohtani played at the same level as Andujar. That’s a widely shared opinion and it’s backed up by stats. It doesn’t help your argument, but that means your argument is flawed. Probably because it’s driven by emotion, not fact.
You also fail to mention andujars low obp and slug % being way behind ohtanis in a hitters park. If ohtani had as many abs as andujar in yankee stadium for 80 games he would have had 44 bombs lol. Ignorance is bliss
Oh the yankee stadium argument.
Too bad for everyone else huh.
Like other stadiums don’t offer as much. Tired of that one
Well let me know when otani puts up 600 at bats OK
Yeah Andujar didnt have a low slugging%. 76XBH, most XBH from a rookie.
Of Andujar’s 27 homeruns only 3 were hit to LF and in general, his lowest OPS was to opposite field so, no, he’s not a product of a shot LF wall.
To RF/1.483 OPS
Up the middle:/.767 OPS
To LF/.762 OPS
You can make valid argument Pro-Ohtani but let’s stick to facts.
Miguel is a righty dumbass. Yankee stadium is a lefty hitting park
But Gary Sanchez wasn’t the best rookie that season. The proper person won that season.
Ohtani wasn’t a novelty, he was an EVENT, in a sport that has very few of them; next to none, actually. Add to it that he showed next to no effects from the constant media scrutiny; they covered the guy’s bathroom visits, for heaven’s sake! Now add in that he’s incredibly professional, a trait that belies his age.
Give the man what he deserves…..
I agree. I’m salty AF he didn’t choose the Dodgers, but that won’t keep me from admiring his immense talent.
His team also won more games because they had him playing than the Yankees did by playing Andujar. Ohtani haters in baseball are like Steph Curry haters in baseball, “wah wah he didnt play enough games for my liking” “wah wah lets see how he does with a terrible supporting cast” in the end, sports loses anytime the haters make more noise than the winners.
Amen. He posted superstar numbers and generated more excitement than any other player. Andujar? He was a nice surprise on a team that barely needed him. No pressure at all. Ohtani carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Andujar was arguably their best hitter and carried the team when Jusge was out. Again, Ohtani probably deserved to win but you’re disprespecting what Andujar did, Considering the fact that he performed his best when the team needed him says more than the impact Ohtani had on the Angel’s season. I’m not knocking him, at all, but to say they didn’t need him is crazy. Drury went down with an injury and he took over. Bad defense aside.
Otha i is not a rookie. If you have played professionally anywhere else you are NOT a rookie. Andujar should get it hands down since Ohtani doesn’t qualify
He’s 23, stop talking.
Minor league players are professional ballplayers, dvader77
Was Andujar an amateur in the minors?
He’s as much a rookie as Andujar is, or he wouldn’t be eligible. I feel your pain. Nomo shouldn’t have won over Chipper, but he did.
Considering you clearly have no clue what makes a baseball player a “professional”, I’ll let everyone else slice and dice you.
You realize players in MLB minor leagues get paid, right? They’re not interns or candystripers in Syracuse or Wilkes-Barre—they’re *professional* players.
I hope that moment of clarity gives you greater understanding of just how ridiculous your post makes you look.
The Yankees got screwed. Andujar deserved ROTY not Ohtani
Yes and 25 writers, including one from NY, conspired to do it. /s
Yankees fans are more upset about Andujar losing ROY then getting bounced out of the ALDS by their arch rival… Ohtani was clearly the better player, in less games. 3.9 WAR vs 2.2 WAR for Andujar. This vote shouldn’t be close and it wasn’t.
Anyone that wants that nightmare-level defensive 3B who hit a couple dingers out of that little league park he plays his home games in whoop de doo, to win over a guy who literally joined clubs only Babe Ruth is in, is the maximum crybaby – yeah yeah we get it Ohtani said he didn’t want to play in NYC, look what happened to Sonny out there, Shohei made a great move, don’t be sour even though you barely ever win titles anymore, its not Ohtani’s fault your fanbase is the worst in baseball.
Like, his numbers aren’t even close: Ohtani had a 3.9/3.8 WAR had Andujar 2.2/2.7 WAR. Not even close how much more games the Angels won having Ohtani over the Yankees having Andujar – games played don’t matter if you stink in the ones you do play in. This was a no-brainer, if anyone was robbed it was Gleyber not being in 2nd place.
Wow…you sound like the bitter one.
Simply full of hate. Please you would take andujar in a heartbeat.
I look only at stats. But truly things are not that impartial when it comes down to the voting.
Nobody would take Andujar over Ohtani
That was in reference to jto saying he would not want andujar on his squad…
Not a pick one type situation
I think anybody would take Andujar in a heartbeat. He was an impressive hitter this year. But in saying that there’s hardly anybody who would take him over Ohtani
Despite being a very good hitter, no, not every team would want Andujar on their team. Some teams do in fact have better overall ball players at third and at first (the only two positions Andujar could probably play satisfactory). He is good, but he isn’t good enough to be an everyday starter on every team.
Andujar could also DH. He fits on most teams. Also it was a rookie his year. I think he can improve defensively. He’s never going to be a good 3B but you can’t tell me there’s no chance he could be passable. I’m not ready to say that after one year.
Thank. You.
If anyone was robbed it was Wendle for not being in second place. Not being a Yankee or a media darling is a tough living!
I’m sitting here…..looking upwards wondering….when was the last time the Angel’s won a world series? oh yeah,,,,they won their only one back in 2002? Shut up.
If you’re going to use WAR for Ohtani over andujar please don’t say Gleyber Torres should’ve been 2nd because you’re wrong using the same logic. Be consistent if you’re going to make a point. You cant just pick and choose when to throw numbers out there
Yankees fans just can’t deal with reality. It always has to go their way or they get all pissy. Ohtani is a clearly superior player and it’s not close.
Agree on Ohtani. It was fun to watch his talents show this year. Well deserved.
Cry Yankees fans, cry! Your tears are Angels fans’ World Series victory!!! We shall sip as though they were champagne.
And this is your World Series Angel fans! This is all you got. Lol
So we give it to you!
Where is yours?
Waiting back in 2009
In what world does Acuna get that many more first place votes than Soto? They had virtually identical seasons. It should have been a lot closer.
Acuna carried the Braves in the second half and lead them to the NL East title. Not hard to figure it out.
People also at how well the teams did
If yelich was on the orioles and they still did bad he would not be an MVP frontrunner
No he wouldn’t. That’s also why Trout only has two MVP awards, but probably should have four or five. Close goes to the team success.
No Yelich wouldn’t. That’s also why Trout only has two MVP awards, but probably should have four or five with too many gripes. Close goes to the team success.
Embarrassing. However, not surprising. Andujar was absolutely deserving of this award and this has nothing to do with Yankee fans having hurt feelings. I imagine most feel just fine about the status of their team (probably one of the best on paper for many years to come) and frankly, most could care less about this award. Doesn’t mean standing up for what you believe in and is right. Seems like the overwhelming majority of people, myself included, saw this for what it was. Andujar did something historic on a team that won 100 games and was a major contributor in a pennant race. By every part of the definition a ROY. Ohtani, still trying to figure out what he did that was so special. I’m being serious. A panel of people who voted that lack the ability to write anything inspiring about this game, so that’s why I said earlier, this was a foregone conclusion.
I also do love how contentious of a debate this is. Seems like most or at least more than half seem to feel similar. It’s moments like this that something about the game feels undermined.
Ohtani outhit Andujar by a large margin (152 wRC+ vs a 128 for Andujar)
AND he gained 1 FWAR by pitching
Andujar had a nice season, but he wasn’t on Ohtani’s level
and what Andujar’s team did mean nothing. Why should he win an individual award on a team that won 100 games when he wasn’t better than a rookie who played on a bad team? Having better quality teammates should not impact your individual awards.
Love how some bust out these stats. The relevance of them being limited. Ohtani had almost 50% fewer plate appearances and didn’t play a single game in the field other than pitching 51 innings.
just because you are ignorant to the more modern, better stats that TEAMS USE TO DECIDE PRODUCTION doesn’t mean they aren’t relevant. The fact is that wRC+ and wOBA are better ways to judge hitting than any other stats we have found.
so either evolve, or get out of the way.
and the Yankees would have been better off if Andujar never played the field, because his defense was so awful it actually hurt his value a lot.
Alright pipe down homer. Expand your level of thought beyond the 2×2 box you’re standing on. The “stat’s” favor Ohtani only because they haven’t been diluted from a larger sample of playing time. Had he had 606 plate appearances your “modern” stats might have told a different story. Why people seem to ignore this extremely important fact, is a bit perplexing, but I’m appealing to the mob, which rarely works. All good.
had he played 66 PA’s even with some regression he would have put up at least another 1.5- 2fWAR making his situation even stronger not weaker.
and i’m a Braves fan, I could care less about either team. The facts are the facts and not subject to your opinions. Ohtani earned the award by being better at baseball than Andujar.
We will add “sample size” to the statistics concepts you know nothing about.
Sample size matters on cumulative stats, like HR or hits; clearly, it matters how many AB were used to obtain the total in that category.
But other stats don’t really matter much when it comes to AB totals. If Ohtani has an OBP of .361 and Andujar’s is .328, then we can state Ohtani was more skilled at getting on base in general.
And if Ohtani had a SLG of .564 and Andujar’s was .527, then we can state that Ohtani hit for greater power.
And since those two combine for OPS, then Ohtani’s .925 leaves Andujar’s .855 in the rear view mirror. When adjusted for park differences with OPS+, the gap between the two is even more pronounced, with Ohtani’s 152 better than Andujar’s 126.
So please, no more of this nonsense about who played more games. If Andujar spent the first half of the season doing all the bullpen work, video review, and conditioning that the pitchers do, AND batted 3-4 games a week, then you’d be able to make a case for Andujar. And if Andujar had been able to play 3B with defensive neutrality—basically a 0 WAR outcome, instead of the -2.2 WAR he posted for his defense in B-Ref—then he would have received more 1st place votes.
But he didn’t. And continuing to harp on the “he played fewer games!” line just reinforces the concept that Yankees fans exist within their own separate reality.
I mean, you should take into account the sample size even with stats like .AVG, .OBP, .SLG, etc. The more ABs a player gets the more it levels those numbers out. Its why in the first week or month of baseball you have a lot guys posting gaudy percentages but over the course of the season those numbers flatten out. For you to dismiss sample size as a factor is extremely foolish.
P.S.
Dont conflate my criticism about your inability to comprehend why sample size is important with Andujar shouldve won over Ohtani.
If youre wondering where i stood on that: I think Andujar being there every day puts a lot of value in my book but Ohtani’s two way ability levels it out. Its a coinflip to me. Andujar definitely had an amazing rookie season offensively with all those XBH
Thanks for the straw man example.
Yes, players can have hot (or cold) starts, and no one should try to extrapolate a year from that.
Ohtani had 367 PA/326 AB, so we are not discussing a “small sample size” here.
He played the entire season in medical duress, initially with a Grade 1 UCL sprain, which degenerated to Grade 2 by mid season. He did play from Opening Day to the season finale.
So the sample size is plenty big. His was an unconventional season by any yardstick, but it was clearly with sufficient activity offensively to make a valid evaluation of his accomplishments. More AB after sampling 300+ over the entire season will not markedly affect the results, unless the underlying presumption is that those “other” AB are all strikeouts and GIDP—outliers to the results otherwise seen. Magical thinking works that way, but statistics does not.
+Cat
Im strawmanning? No. My reply to you was that sample size is an important factor to consider.
I wasnt even making the point that players can have hot/cold starts. I was making the point that over the course of a season numbers flatten out.
I never said Ohtanis play time was a “small sample size”. Only that sample size does matter when considering stats like .AVG, .OBP, .SLG etc., which you implied it did not.
What does his injury have to do with my criticism of you being unable to comprehend the importance of a sample size when looking at averages?
I didnt say his sample size wasnt big. I never insinuated that “”other”” ABs would all be negative had they existed.
Quite frankly I dont know if you meant to reply to me given how off-base you are in your response. You seem to have magically conjured up arguments i never made and replied to those. I even specified the exact argument i was making in my first response to you. You are the one strawmanning you fool.
baseball365…just wondering….when the MLB Players announce their awards and Ohtani wins “Outstanding Rookie in the AL” what excuse will be used then?
he’ll be so mad his mom will have to go out and buy him a case of grape fanta
When was the last time a player started 10 games as a pitcher and did it well while also being a more than competent hitter.
Andujar hit and only hit cause his fielding was shiiiiiyit.
I find it hard to believe that you can’t find anything special in Ohtani ability to do what no other star player is really doing in the majors right now. This award was a forgone conclusion as soon as Ohtani showed his true abilities.
Funny that – what one person did was literally historical, but it’s not the person you claim it to be.
It boggles me how some people are struggling so badly, with what Ohtani produced.
Im sorry, soto should have one it. 79/99 BB/K ratio for a 19 year old (then) stands out for me
I’m sorry, but it’s 2018, we don’t use stats like that anymore as they don’t mean anything. They were very close, very close. But Acuna’s second half won him the award
Actually, we do… We just turn it into percentages now and act like it’s something new. That BB/K ratio is fantastic for any player, let alone a 19 year old rookie.
Especially for a guy that hit 22HR. Soto’s command of the strike zone was impressive, along with his incredible opposite field power. Will be interesting to see how he does next season, as pitchers continue to adjust. They started throwing him a ton of breaking balls the last month of the season, and Soto chased more than he had. Fun player to watch.
Total Bias. They didn’t want to give the award to a Yankee 2 years in a row. Andujar had the better year. Osaka is an over hyped flash in the pan.
Bias for the historic Los Angeles Angels over the Yankees. You’ve now heard it all, folks.The conspiracy is exposed.
This article’s comments section has taught me 2 things:
A- Yankee fans are not very math savvy
B- Yankee fans are spoiled, entitled children
Stop. You’re criticizing people about math and you’re looking dumb in the process. You seem to conveniently leave out about 239 PA, which absolutely impacts the numbers. I’m just fighting for what’s right (and fair) when looking at the entire picture. You’re fighting, well, I don’t know what you’re fighting over. He won because yes, he was good, but that was 35-40% of the vote. The other 60+% was about his novelty being a two-way player. It’s ok, but not really very fair.
he was better. 152 to 128 wRC+ is not close. if he gets the extra plate apoearances he puts up 5 fWAR batting and Yankee fans would still complain.
Acuna for Trout and someone else.
getting creative maybe we can build off this
Braves fan btw, not sure about this but just trying to get creative
Maybe build off this and not just rip it to shreds for every weakness
anyone?
No, Atlanta isn’t trading Acuna for Trout.
And LAA are not trading Trout and someone else for Acuna.
Unfortunately for Trout the Angels probably won’t trade him.
They should. They clearly can’t win with him.
Lol if the Angels ever decided to trade Trout there would not be a “someone else”. Acuna is not as good as Trout and does not hold more value.
Lol im not disagreeing with you or anything but can you explain
When i say another player, the other player is good as well
Erie4312….What you are “trying to build on” is video game stuff. You are suggesting a trade involving the best player and most consistent of this generation and another player for a player who has turned in one very good year. Think about that and you will understand why most people have not responded to your “proposal” even though you have posted it on numerous articles
Wait—he was serious?
Apparently, as he asked the same question on about 4-5 articles.
still waiting Mando
For what? To explain to you that a player with one very good year under his belt is not worth a player who has already put together 7 HoF worthy seasons, let alone Acuna for Trout and another player.
It’s ridiculous to even think it on so many levels. Have a nice day.
scared huh
Acuna has 5 more seasons of cheap money
Trout has two years of making tons of money and Angels are prob not making playoffs next two years
think about that
bad deal for braves actually
It still doesn’t fly you will be hard pressed to find anyone on here that agrees with you.. That said.. I’m done. This conversation i as pointless as a plot in an adult film.
you just dont want to admit your wrong
Baseball awards have lost all meaning to me. Miguel should have won.
Being there to witness Acuña’s grand slam off Buehler in game 3 of the NLDS was probably one of the coolest baseball moments I’ve had in my 33 years. Hinske’s homer against the Giants in 2010 might be second.
Soto had slightly better stats than Acuna. Both should be exciting players for years to come.
Andujar had a good season but when you add Ohtani’s hitting and pitching, he is far and away the top rookie.
I am very excited to see what these men bring to the table for the rest of their hopefully long careers. There have been many one hit wonders that won the award and have been second/third.
Bottom line, the winners are winners and losers are losers! Now let’s hurry up and get to playing some ball.
Of all the MLB major awards, i deem the ROY the least important.
I’m more concerned whether a player can duplicate, or better, his numbers in his following seasons. If he can, then the ROY award has more meaning, imo.
true, braves are going to have an interesting offseason
Where’s slevin at? I figured that tool would be whining incessantly about his baby Yankees not winning.
Yankee fans are really making themselves look terrible tonight. I usually try and caution people with the whole “it’s only a few that spoil a fanbase”, but the level of crying that’s going on here is ridiculous.
Ohtani won. If you can’t see why, that’s your limitation, not anyone else’s. Don’t paint us with your ignorant brush.
Maybe all of these emotional outbursts are a holdover from Boston winning it all.
Limitation…..really….the guy pitched 10 games and played a half season!
Y’all really need to start using an ñ in your stories about Acuña. And the ú in Andújar for that matter. These accents, particularly the ñ, fundamentally change these names’ pronunciations. For Acuña, it’s even a different consonant sound.
bro we are not here to talk about grammar
The average Braves fan can pronounce his name correctly anyway
This isn’t grammar, bro. It’s spelling. Wouldn’t you want people in foreign countries to spell your name correctly?
I really wouldnt care if I was going to make millions of dollars
Now if people pronounced my name to my face I would not like that
+im pretty sure MLB foreign players dont look in comment sections
The misspelling is in the title of the article. And the body. Not in the comments.
I actually thought Acuña’s name was pronounced “ah-coo-na” until I saw the correct spelling.
You should probably be a little more sensitive to Spanish and those who speak it.
Get off your soapbox, please.
LOL
You’re trying to make this political? You can’t appreciate spelling names correctly because you’re probably some basic bro with a name like John Smith. Regardkess MLBTR agrees with me. Move along, random internet manchild. Go back to your video games in your basement, yelling at your mom for more Mountain Dew.
We don’t disagree. It is our strong preference to have that and we have discussed it. There are practical considerations that have made it more challenging than one might think to do it in a reasonably efficient and consistent manner. But we hope to figure out a way and certainly prefer to be as accurate as possible in conveying names.
What’s the challenge out of curiosity? It’s easy to do it on a Mac (option+n, then another n) as you may know.
no idea how to do it on laptop
Manually doing it for one player is possible. Ensuring consistency across all players is different. Synching with the auto-linking function is an issue. Etc.
It is honestly an active topic of discussion for us. But it’s not just us … I happened to notice, for instance, that the NYT story on the ROY awards does not have any accents.
Personally would’ve gone Soto and Ohtani, but I have absolutely no problem with Acuna winning in the NL. Well deserved by both players.
Real question – Any non-Yankee fans on here think Andujar got screwed over?
Another ROTY award for a professional who previously played at his country’s highest level. Andujar CLEARLY deserved the award in my opinion. Not meant to disrespect a wonderful talent but the awards have become less meaningful in recent years. This year in particular. A centerfielder wins a gold glove as a part time player (88 games), one person wins two silver slugger awards when he only played in the outfield 1/3rd of the time. Why are gold glove outfield awards position specific when the silver slugger winners aren’t? And finally, how can a player nearly win a triple crown and not be in the top three MVP voting? Only today when voters rely more on fantasy results than they do with their eyes.
“And finally, how can a player nearly win a triple crown and not be in the top three MVP voting? Only today when voters rely more on fantasy results than they do with their eyes.”
Isn’t the triple crown a fantasy stat?
If it is about using one’s eyes, and not stats, to select RoY, and you’re still thinking Andujar got jobbed, then your eyes never watched Ohtani for more than a highlight on SportsCenter.
You can’t pretend to follow and understand baseball, and also say that Andujar was more deserving.
The most insane comment I read in years was the one that claimed there was “media bias” against the Yankees…now THAT’S rich. Aaron Boone passes gas and Rosenthal and Heyman are there to smell it to see what he had for lunch……Kevin Cash could discover a cure for cancer and they’d say “who”???
Yanks fans are still smarting from Ohtani choosing any other team besides the Empire to sign with. That’s ALL that’s going on here. A healthy, non-pitching Ohtani would have produced what Andujar did (and probably play a better 3B). You can’t possibly believe the reverse is true.
Oh, sorry, I forgot about the inherent moral and intellectual superiority of the Empire……
As a Yankee fan I’m not the least bit upset over Ohtani winning. Ohtani is a Special player and he is redefining the game, I get that. I could care less about individual awards. I only care about one award.
There should be another award for the top three finalist for ROY in their second year
ROY doesn’t matter if you cant keep the production going
Example: Ohtani and Andujar compete again to see whos better in 2019
Thats what matters
So rookie of the year, except sophomore of the year? Are you going to do that for 15 years?
nope just two
that would be intersting though
to look at acuna and soto in 15 years
As an Angels fan I am jealous of the awards you care about and have! You’re totally on point though this is just an individual award, not a team award.
Ohtani won on talent. . . The fact that he was hitting bombs and pitching great ball is something we have not seen… The comparisons to Babe Ruth are apt. But, injuries have brought into question the length of those comparisons… One season wonder.? Maybe. . . As I believe one or the other, hitting or pitching will rule out in the end… The league will learn him as a hitter. And physically how great can you pitch if your body is still out there performing at a high level. I guess if he DHs that might be ok. . . Highschool players do it all the time… Such an unknown. But bottom line. The guys burst onto the scene definitely garnered historical recognition…
If Ohtani’s 2018 had been played in pinstripes, and Andujar’s 2018 had even played in Halo red, I think Yankees fans would still be passionately arguing that Andujar was more deserving.*
*I don’t actually think this. But I do think this 2018 AL RoY vote has proven beyond all doubt that Yankees fans are wildly committed to their pinstripes, even if not to consistent reasoning, and it’s their commitment that I admire very much.
If Ohtani was a Yankee and Andujar was a Royal, Yankee fans would be screaming all about Ohtani and calling Andujar “the kid in KC who had an OK year”…..and you KNOW that to be true….
Look, the whole thing was invented by the newspapers to fill in the off season….everybody needs to stop treating it like a dogma from the chair of St. Peter…..both players had admirable rookie years….so did some others…..I for one am impressed with the young talent coming into the game…..
Ohtani started 10 games on the mound, and how many did he bat in? About 60, right?
WHAT A JOKE!!!
104
How? He only had 61 RBI. “About 60”
He also only started 10 games.
Just kidding, it was ambiguous, know you thought he meant games, he batted in. It was 104 games 🙂
22 of those were as a pinch hitter!
Pardon my bias, Jeff. Go Yankees!
Should we revoke Dave Righetti’s RoY award. He only pitched in 15 games? Oh wait he was a Yankee then so it’s OK.
That’s where you are confusing things. RBI doesn’t refer to runs batted in with Andujar. It stands for runs by infielder. His defense let that many runs in when an average defender would have stopped them.
Or the Gary only played 50 games but he hit 20 homerz and is ROY. That was bias too.
If ohtani was a Yankee and Andujar was an angel there would be no debate. I guarantee all the Yankee fans saying Andujar should’ve won would not be singing the same tune.
There is no debate. For the most part, fans of 29 teams seem to think one guy deserved it, and fans of one team seem to think the other guy deserved it.
They got it right