Shohei Ohtani Wins The AL Rookie of the Year Award

I really hate it when technology fails me but it happens every once in a while. In this case, my post disappeared but I know I have it saved, just not on my iPad or here at home. Oh well, I’ll post the image and update things tomorrow with the post I was gonna put out today.

—UPDATED November 14th with real post—

It was never a question in my mind but it’s nice to see the rest of baseball agree with me that Shohei Ohtani was the best rookie in the American League this year.

He may have started out slowly but even after enduring a severe injury that ended his time on the mound for the season (and most if not all of next season), Ohtani still had an offensive year that would put him on par with the top candidates for the award. On the season as a slugger, Shohei batted .285 with 22 home runs and 61 RBIs. He even picked up 10 stolen bases which I’m not sure anyone expected.

And that was only his time at the plate. His pitching numbers were similarly good even though his time was cut short. Over 51 2/3 innings Shohei picked up 63 strike outs and drove a 3.31 ERA. Sure, he only picked up 4 wins in his 6 decisions but this was on a team that ended the season 2 games under .500. On a team in which most of the opening day starters ended up on the disabled list, some gone for 3 or more months, his 10 games were definitely needed and even after he was injured he fought back to give the mound another shot during the season.

And I think that says a lot for Ohtani – he kept fighting for playing time even when his body was not cooperating. He came back to pitch in the 2nd half and when that resulted in a worsening of his injury, he still pushed himself to contribute to the team, hitting .310 with a 1.003 OPS and 7 home runs in the final month of the season – while injured.

He had my vote for Rookie of the Year early on and now it’s official and I’m glad he got the recognition he deserves.

Sports | Shohei Ohtani is AL Rookie of the Year!