Red Sox: Andrew Benintendi among AL Rookie of the Year finalists

Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi is among the three finalists on the ballot for American League Rookie of the Year.

With the BBWAA announcing the lists of baseball’s top awards, let’s take a look at each candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award.

All three finalists for the Rookie of the Year Award had pretty good years for their teams.  The three finalists that were named were New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi, and Baltimore Orioles outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini.  The winner of this award will be announced next Monday night.

The 2017 Rookie of the Year Award, to no one’s surprise, is most likely going to Judge.  The two other Rookie of the Year Award finalists, Benintendi and Mancini are worth mentioning, though.

Judge had a season that no one expected.  Before the season started, it was predicted that Benintendi was going to win the Rookie of the Year Award, but after an unbelievable season, Judge will most likely win.

So, let’s take a look at each finalist and how their seasons went.

Aaron Judge

It is safe to say that Aaron Judge is the favorite to win the 2017 Rookie of the Year Award.  After having a terrific season, he deserves this award.

Judge led the Yankees to the American League Championship Series this past season hitting .284/ .422/ .627 with an MLB rookie record 52 home runs.  He also drove in 114 runs, which was second in the American League.

Not only is Judge a favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award, but is also a strong candidate for the AL MVP.  That award is a lot closer than the Rookie of the Year Award.  The AL MVP will come down to either Judge or Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, who also had a great season.

Judge was named an AL All-Star this past season and also put on a jaw-breaking performance at the Home Run Derby, hitting over four miles worth of home runs to win the event.

After the All-Star break, Judge had a bit of a slump and ended the season leading the league in strikeouts. Judge started to pick it back up towards the end of the season but didn’t get back to the type of performance he had in the first half.

Judge is pretty much a lock for the Rookie of the Year Award after having the type of season he had, but let’s take a look at the other finalists for the award.

Andrew Benintendi

Our own Andrew Benintendi was named a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year Award.  Benintendi was heavily the favorite for the award before the season started, but it’s hard to beat the season Judge had.

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The 23-year old still had a pretty solid season. He led all qualified Red Sox hitters in on-base percentage and was one of the better bats in the lineup.  Benintendi was a little inconsistent at times during the season, in my opinion, but he was among the best hitters for the Sox.

Benintendi hit .271/.352/.424 with 20 home runs and 90 RBIs this past season. August was the rookie’s best month of the season and he was given the Rookie of the Month award for that month.

The left fielder for the Red Sox did pretty well under the circumstances this season.  Coming in this season, he was the favorite to win the ROY and was heavily relied on this past season.

Benintendi still has some room to improve this next season.  He needs to work on playing balls off the Green Monster in left.  At times this season, he had some trouble with balls coming from off the monster.  He also could work on his patience at the plate.  If he works on these things in the offseason, he could come back and have a monster year for the Sox.