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The Spectacle Blog

Kimbrel, Hellickson Win Rookie Honors

By Aaron Goldstein on 11.14.11 @ 5:37PM

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson won the AL Rookie of the Year Award while Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel was named NL Rookie of the Year. It marks the first time two pitchers have won this honor in the same year since 1981 when Dave Righetti won the AL Rookie of the Year Award with the New York Yankees and Fernando Valenzuela won it in the Senior Circuit with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yet pitchers have been winning this award with increasing frequency in the AL. Hellickson becomes the third straight pitcher to win this honor and the fifth in seven years. But I was surprised at the result. I thought Los Angeles Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo would win it with his 29 homeruns and 87 RBI as he kept the Angels in the AL West race until late in the season. However, Trumbo split the first base vote with Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals.

But if a pitcher was going to win it in the AL, I thought Ivan Nova of the Yankees would have been the likelier candidate. Nova's won-loss record was 16-4 compared to 13-10 for Hellickson. But Hellickson didn't lose a game in September as the Rays overcame a 9½ game deficit in the AL Wild Card and surged past the Boston Red Sox on the final day of the season to clinch a playoff spot. Given that the voting by the BBWAA took place the day after the Rays overcame a 7-0 deficit against the Yankees in the 7th inning to win 8-7 in 11 innings, probably played a big role in influencing the vote in Hellickson's favor.

However, Kimbrel being named NL Rookie of the Year was far less surprising as he easily bested his teammate first baseman Freddie Freeman. Kimbrel set a NL rookie record for saves with 46. Those 46 saves were also good enough to tie him for the league lead with John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Yet this is a bittersweet honor given that the Braves couldn't hold onto a 10½ game lead in the NL Wild Card and were helpless to stop the St. Louis Cardinals in their run to World Series glory. Kimbrel becomes the first member of the Braves to win NL Rookie of the Year honors since Rafael Furcal did it in 2000. Furcal, of course, was acquired by the Cardinals from the Dodgers at the trade deadline and will receive his first World Series ring. You can bet that Kimbrel would gladly trade places with Furcal.

View all comments (7) | Leave a comment

RJ| 11.14.11 @ 6:56PM

I still can't get over the World Championship being awarded to the team with the 8th best record during the season and the teams with the best records not even getting into the second round of playoffs. It is hard to follow a sport when the season doesn't mean much except elimination of the weaker teams.

Bob K.| 11.15.11 @ 9:06AM

RJ,
Truer words were never spoken. Your last sentence says it all. Baseball has expanded to the point that, in effect, the talent in the herds has been thinned and as a result baseball management, which has been dumbed down, doesn't realize it has cheapened the game by having 5 team leagues.

It is kind of like what happened to sports writing and the Baseball Writers Association after the invention of the internet and blogging.

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JimH| 11.15.11 @ 8:02AM

Way to go, Hellboy. I'll appreciate him here in Tampa until he is up for a new contract and he gets traded. Now that the Rays are competitive, rooting for them is frustrating as they have enogh pitching and defense to be in it, but not enough hitting or money for hitting to get to the top.

Bob K.| 11.15.11 @ 8:55AM

Was the Phillies Vance Worley in the voting? Was he eligible?

He picked up the slack when Oswalt was injured and went 11-3, 3.01ERA,116 hits in 131 IP. 119K's and 46 walks and 1.230 WHIP. Appeared in 25 games, 21 as a starter and was 6-0 at home with a 2.01 ERA.

The Phils might not have won their division without him.

Casey Abell| 11.15.11 @ 11:48AM

Hellickson had a much better ERA than Nova: 2.95 vs. 3.70. Nova's won-lost record owed a lot to his team, which was an offensive powerhouse compared to Tampa Bay.

As for too many teams getting into the playoffs, eight of thirty doesn't sound too bad compared to every other major sport. Not bad at all, in fact.