New York Yankees: Miguel Andujar wins MLBPA Rookie of the Year award

The New York Yankees received an incredible amount of production from their rookie third baseman last season, but he was unable to take home the American League Rookie of the Year award.

Miguel Andujar did not win the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year award this past season, but he was recently able to take home a valuable prize voted on by his peers.  This valuable prize came in the form of the 2018 AL Outstanding Rookie award that was voted on by the MLB Players’ Association.

Although Shohei Ohtani was able to take home the official AL Rookie of the Year award as voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, he finished second in the AL Outstanding Rookie award chosen by the Players’ Association.  Another New York Yankees rookie Gleyber Torres finished third in both the AL Rookie of the Year voting and the AL Outstanding Rookie voting.

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Throughout Andujar’s outstanding rookie season, he compiled a new Yankees rookie record with 47 doubles.  He also put together 27 home runs, 92 runs batted in, and 83 runs scored alongside a slash-line of .297/.328/.527 through 149 games..

Comparatively, Ohtani put together 21 doubles, 22 home runs, 61 runs batted in, and 59 runs scored alongside a slash-line of .285/.361/.564 through 104 games.  He also pitched in 10 games with a 4-2 record, a 3.31 ERA, a 3.57 FIP, and a 1.161 WHIP.

Without Andujar, the Yankees would definitely not have been able to win 100 games last season and they may not have even been able to make the playoffs.  As he put up phenomenal numbers while helping his team reach the postseason, winning the AL Outstanding Rookie award from his peers is a meaningful accomplishment for the 23-year-old slugger.

As Ohtani had a very unique rookie season by performing well as both a batter and a starter, the Baseball Writers’ Association had a difficult decision to make when voting on the AL Rookie of the Year winner.  Even though Andujar did not pitch, his additional 45 games of offense allowed him to compile franchise record numbers while also helping his team reach the postseason.  Due to this, it is great to see Andujar receive recognition from his peers for his phenomenal rookie season.