Mariners rookie, Kyle Lewis, met high expectations to the delight of the Mariners fans
Boy am I happy to be writing about Kyle Lewis‘ 2020 season. Lewis made his debut in 2019 but only played in 18 games, so 2020 is his first full season with the Mariners.
After playing in 58 games, the Mariners centerfielder batted .262, .801 OPS 11 home runs, and 28 RBIs. Lewis was red hot in July and August and lost his fire in September and October. But, he managed to still have an impressive average and OPS as a rookie despite tanking a bit.
Lewis was also talented on the field, making multiple catches at the wall robbing home runs like Ken Griffey Jr. He did have a fierce competition with Luis Robert from the White Sox who was also nominated as a Gold Glove finalist. Although his Gold Glove finalist selection was a little controversial as Kevin Kiemaier had some incredible stats to make a case for himself.
Lewis is the center of the Mariners rebuild and will be relying on him to lead the team in a highly anticipated 2021 and 2022 Mariners season as more of its top prospects become MLB ready.
The other candidate for the AL Outstanding Rookie Award was James Karinchak of the Indians. To me, it seems Kyle Lewis is the AL Rookie of the Year but there still is a lot of hype around Luis Robert from Chicago.
The Padres rookie, Jake Cronenworth wins NL Outstanding Rookie
No one would have guessed that Jake Cronenworth would even be in consideration for rookie awards at the start of the 2020 season. The infielder quietly came into the rookie award conversations during the middle of the season.
Cronenworth’s fame really came to light in August where he batted .355 with four home runs and 16 RBIs which helped propel the Padres to second place in the division.
Yes, the Padres had Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, but Cronenworth’s presence in the lineup really helped the Padres as an overlooked player. He finished 2020 with a .285 average and .831 OPS, with 20 RBIs.
Like Kyle Lewis, Cronenworth tanked during September and October but still kept a great stat line as a rookie. To me, the Padres found a diamond in the rough with Cronenworth and he will be a key player moving forward.
Cronenworth went up against Alec Bohm and Devin Williams. It will be interesting to see how Cronenworth fares in the Rookie of the Year Award especially with Devin Williams winning NL Reliever of the Year.
Finally, I will share the two Comeback Players.