On Monday, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager was unanimously named the 2016 National League Rookie of the year, topping teammate Kenta Maeda and Nationals shortstop Trea Turner.
The 22-year-old Seager had been the odds-on favorite seemingly all along for good reason: He performed at a well-above-average level throughout the season, all while playing a high-demand position. In all, Seager appeared in 157 games, batting .308/.365/.512 (translating to a 137 OPS+) with 26 home runs. No other rookie could compete with that combination of impact and quantity.
Here's how the three finalists' numbers stacked up:
| Player | PA/IP | OPS+/ERA+ | WAR |
| Seager | 687 | 137 | 6.1 |
| Maeda | 175.2 | 112 | 2.4 |
| Turner | 324 | 144 | 3.5 |
In all, Seager is the 17th Dodger to win the award, and the first since Todd Hollandsworth in 1996. Seager joins a star-studded group that includes Jackie Robinson, Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Piazza, among others. Somewhat surprisingly, given how much position matters, Seager is the first Dodgers shortstop to win the award. Comparatively, four Dodgers second basemen have won.
Additionally, Seager was the first NL shortstop to win the award since Hanley Ramirez in 2006. Houston's Carlos Correa was the last AL shortstop, receiving the honor last fall.
Seager led NL rookies in games played, hits, extra-base hits and tied for the lead in RBI. He also finished second in home runs, behind Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, and in the top five in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. His OPS+ was second-best (behind Turner, who had fewer than half as many plate appearances), while his 6.1 WAR was more than the second- and third-place rookies accumulated combined (5.9).
Turner and Maeda, meanwhile, deserve recognition. Turner was a catalyst for the Nationals offense all the way into the postseason. Maeda was the Dodgers' most reliable starter, from a health perspective. Yet Turner lacked Seager's playing time and Maeda his splash. As a result, they finished in second and third place.
Seager is the 21st player (and 12th NL player) to win the award unanimously, joining last year's victor Kris Bryant. Here's a full look at the voting:
| PLAYER | CLUB | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | PTS |
| Corey Seager | Dodgers | 30 | -- | -- | 150 |
| Trea Turner | Nationals | -- | 11 | 9 | 42 |
| Kenta Maeda | Dodgers | -- | 11 | 4 | 37 |
| Trevor Story | Rockies | -- | 7 | 3 | 24 |
| Aledmys Diaz | Cardinals | -- | 1 | 11 | 14 |
| Jon Gray | Rockies | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Steven Matz | Mets | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Seung Hwan Oh | Cardinals | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
You can see individual ballots at the BBWAA's official website.
