Rookie of the Year
Monday, November 12
The Rookie of the Year will be announced at 6:00 p.m. on MLB Network.
This is the only major award where the Red Sox are unlikely to to have a horse in the race. While Boston’s roster is loaded with young talent, none of their top players are rookies. No, not even Rafael Devers. It was his first full season in the big leagues but the 22-year old made enough appearances to exhaust his rookie status in 2017.
Sam Travis and Tzu-Wei Lin are examples of position players who still have rookie status but neither contributed nearly enough this season to warrant a spot on the ballot.
Brian Johnson is still a rookie despite appearing in the big leagues during parts of three seasons. He was 4-5 with a 4.17 ERA working in the rotation and out of the bullpen. Hector Velazquez was 7-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 47 appearances, including eight starts. Neither are viable candidates for the award.
One long-shot candidate could be Ryan Brasier. It’s odd to think of him as a rookie since he debuted in the majors back in 2013 but after a lengthy stint in the minors and overseas in Japan, Brasier returns with his rookie status intact. He posted a stellar 1.60 ERA while establishing himself as one of the more trusted option in the bullpen.
Brasier was excellent in his role this season but he’s not beating out Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani or the Yankees duo of Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar.