Written by Pablo Figueroa at Sporting Charts
Baseball award season is upon us as the first highlight of the offseason. While there have already been a couple of big trades, the big awards give us the chance to finally move past the 2015 season and start focusing on what will come in the ensuing months, especially now that many marquee free agents will begin their quest to ensure the future of their descendants. As it happens when awards are announced, the rookies of the year were the first to be called, and with them came a special distinction.
In the American League, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa won the vote by a tight margin over Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. While any of them would have been a worthy choice, Correa’s pedigree and the fact that his team made the playoff ultimately pushed him towards the award, with 17 of the 30 first-place votes. However, the National League saw Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant dominate the voting and earn the ROY in unanimous fashion, finishing a whopping 80 points above second place Matt Duffy.
In a season that was full of quality rookies who may end up being franchise cornerstones, Bryant’s performance stood above the rest by virtue of his preternatural power and surprising all-around play. He led all rookies with a 5.9 WAR, 26 homers, and 99 RBI, while also guiding the Cubs to a surprising playoff berth that ended in the NLCS. Even as it is always a tricky proposition to project how rookies will perform in the long haul, his body of work and the talent around him suggest that Bryant may be the real deal.
The Rookie of the Year award has been full of variance over its history, with winners ranging from perennial All-Stars and Hall of Famers, to busts and what-ifs. It may be hard to recall now, but the likes of Bobby Crosby and Eric Hinske have won this award, only to later become baseball afterthoughts. However, as Bryant earned this distinction in unanimous fashion, he has joined a select group of players who did the same, and their futures ended up being mostly great.
Bryant is the 20th player in history to become a unanimous Rookie of the Year, and the first one in Cubs lore. If his career gravitates towards what the previous 19 winners have done, he should be on a good spot going forward, while Chicago can enjoy his production for many years to come. With this in mind, today we take a look at all the unanimous ROY honorees, and analyze the impressive club Kris Bryant has joined.
To continue reading this article, click here
