Over the next few weeks the 2023 MLB postseason races will be decided, as will the various awards races. Among them: the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award. Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll are the frontrunners at the moment, though a lot can change over these next seven weeks.
There is one single Rookie of the Year award for each league. Los Angeles Dodgers righty Walker Buehler would like that to change. Buehler wants separate Rookie of the Year awards for pitchers and hitters. Here's what Buehler said on the Just Baseball Show earlier this week:
"I personally think there should be a rookie Cy Young as well. Not to be like, 'Oh, I should get all this stuff,' but I was third in the Rookie of the Year to Ronald Acuña Jr. and Juan Soto. Pretty generational, but also neither of them pitch, so who am I competing against? ... Let's have a Fernando Valenzuela Award, best rookie pitcher ever."
Valenzuela, who had his No. 34 retired by the Dodgers last Friday, would certainly be deserving of having a rookie Cy Young named after him. As a 20-year-old rookie in 1981, Valenzuela threw 192 1/3 innings with a 2.48 ERA for Los Angeles, and he led baseball with eight shutouts. That earned him the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young award.
Not counting the peerless Shohei Ohtani, only one pitcher has been named Rookie of the Year since 2017, though five pitchers have been the Rookie of the Year runner-up during that time. Here are the last few Rookies of the Year as well as the pitcher who finished highest in the voting that year:
AL ROY | Top AL rookie pitcher | NL ROY | Top NL rookie pitcher | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | George Kirby, Mariners (5th) | Spencer Strider, Braves (2nd) | ||
2021 | Luis Garcia, Astros (2nd) | Trevor Rogers, Marlins (2nd) | ||
2020 | Kyle Lewis, Mariners | Cristian Javier, Astros (3rd) | Williams (1st) | |
2019 | Yordan Alvarez, Astros | John Means, Orioles (2nd) | Mike Soroka, Braves (2nd) | |
2018 | Shohei Ohtani, Angels | Ryan Yarbrough, Rays (6th) | Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves | Walker Buehler, Dodgers (3rd) |
It would have been interesting to see how Ohtani the hitter (151 OPS+ and 2.7 WAR) and Ohtani the pitcher (127 ERA+ and 1.3 WAR) fared in 2018. Would he have won both the hitter and pitcher Rookie of the Year? Just one? Or does splitting up his production take him out of the running for both awards?
Keep in mind winning Rookie of the Year is about more than simply taking home a trophy these days. Players who finished first and second in the Rookie of the Year voting are awarded a full year of service time regardless of how many days they spent on the active roster. This is one way MLB and the MLBPA are trying to combat service-time manipulation.
Split Rookie of the Year into two awards -- one hitter and one pitcher per league -- and suddenly that's more players being awarded service time, which the union would surely love. Kirby, for example, fell 21 days short of a full year of service time last year while leading AL pitchers in Rookie of the Year voting. He would have been awarded a full year and now been closer to free agency.
Regardless of the service-time implications, I like Buehler's idea and would be in favor of separate hitter and pitcher Rookie of the Year awards. Being a rookie is hard regardless of whether you're hitting or pitching. It would be cool to recognize those who do it best in the batter's box and on the mound. Good idea, Walker. I'm in.