2009 SBN Baseball Awards - NL Rookie Of The Year.

by Ed Chigliak on Nov 10, 2009 7:12 PM EST Comment 6 comments

Is Andrew McCutchen the SB Nation's '09 NL Rookie of the Year? (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

In 2008, the voting members of the SB Nation's baseball sites elected Cubs' catcher Geovany Soto as the NL Rookie of the year after the then-25-year-old catcher had hit .285 with 35 doubles, 23 HR's and 86 RBI's in 141 games behind the plate in Chicago. The only other player to receive a 1st place vote last season was Braves' right-hander Jair Jurrjens, who finished his rookie campaign with a (13-10) record, a 3.68 ERA, 139 K's, (6.4 K/9) and a 1.37 WHIP in 31 starts and 188.1 IP, but Jurrjens finished 3rd overall in the voting behind the Reds' Joey Votto, whose 10 2nd place votes allowed him to take second overall, but made him a distant runner-up to the SB Nation's top choice. Over a week later, the Baseball Writers Association of America awarded their NL Rookie of the Year Award to the same Cubs' catcher, with Votto and Jurrjens finishing second and third...

Who will the SB Nation's Baseball writers pick as the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year? The answer is only a jump away...but before you click through, register your own choice for ROY in the Poll below...

Rk	Player	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Tommy Hanson	Atlanta Braves	9	9	6	78
2	J.A. Happ	Philadelphia Phillies	6	9	7	64
3	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates	8	3	5	54
4	Chris Coghlan	Florida Marlins	7	5	4	54
5	Dexter Fowler	Colorado Rockies	-	3	1	10
6	Randy Wells	Chicago Cubs	-	-	6	6
7	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1	-	-	5
8	Casey McGehee	Milwaukee Brewers	-	1	2	5
9	Seth Smith	Colorado Rockies	-	1	-	3

• Atlanta Braves' right-hander Tommy Hanson ended 2008 by winning the Arizona Fall League's MVP award, (the first time a pitcher in the hitter-friendly league had done so), and though he started the '09 season in the minors he was up by June and able to win 11 of the 21 starts he made, going (11-4) and allowing just 41 ER in 127.2 IP for a 2.89 ERA with 116 K's (8.2 K/9) and a 1.18 WHIP. (ed. note - "When's the first Strasburg v Hanson matchup?")

• J.A. Happ finished the 2009 season with 2 appearances in the World Series for the Phillies, giving up a run on 2 hits in 2.2 IP against the eventual-"World Champion" Yankees. In 23 starts and 35 overall appearances during the regular season, Happ was (12-3) with a 2.93 ERA, 3 complete games, 2 shutouts and a 1.23 WHIP in 166.0 IP, in which he struck out 166 (6.5 K/9) and walked just 56 (3.0 BB/9).

• Washington, DC fans saw the best Andrew McCutchen had to offer this season, when the then-22-year-old outfielder hit 3 HR's in 5 at bats in one game at PNC Park to help Pittsburgh to an 11-6 win over the Nationals. The former 1st Round pick, taken 11th overall by the Pirates in 2005, finally arrived in the majors in early June, giving him enough time to get in 433 at bats, over which he accumulated 124 hits, (26 doubles, 9 triples, 12 HR's), for a .286 AVG with a .365 OBP, .471 SLG, .836 OPS, (122 OPS+), 22 steals and 54 RBI's.

?'s For The DC Faithful...

• Would Jordan Zimmermann have competed for the ROY award if he'd been able to go all season?

• Is Strasburg a lock for next year's award?

• Did I give Chris Coghlan too much credit with a third-place vote because of what he was able to do against the Nationals? Clearly, I wasn't the only one he impressed, but I wonder if the Marlins' early dominance of DC influenced my decision?

• Will the Pirates' OF of Lastings Milledge, McCutchen and (Jose Tabata?) be the envy of the NL in a few seasons? Did I tell you what Former DC GM Jim Bowden said about Milledge? No? Eh, some other time....

• Strasburg v Hanson Pt. 1? Who's going to miss that?

Poll

Who is your 2009 NL Rookie of the Year?

Tommy Hanson (ATL)

41 votes

Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

25 votes

J.A. Happ (PHI)

22 votes

Dexter Fowler (COL)

1 votes

Chris Coghlan (FLA)

24 votes

113 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 6 comments | Share

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Comments

Although I voted for McCutchen, I think Hanson is the better choice

In fact, I would rank my personal ranking exactly the same as this list. I just voted how i thought the writers would vote. i am glad i was wrong. Hanson was incredible and JA Happ was as well. How Happ did not pitch start in the series was beyond me.

"What you know is often the enemy of what you can learn" Bill James

by PhDBrian on Nov 10, 2009 8:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

If I was picking pitcher and player, it would be McCutchen and Hanson too...

The McCutchen/Milledge OF will be fun to watch for a while…til Pittsburgh blows it up and trades one or both of them to the Yankees….

Vivian Jaffe: "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Albert Markovski: "Yes. No. Uh, time, not space... No, I don't know what you're talking about."

by Ed Chigliak on Nov 10, 2009 9:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Voted Hanson

"I love, love, love John Lackey." -- Graysnail.

by Mezza on Nov 10, 2009 11:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Strasburg isn't a lock for next year.

But he is the favorite to win it. I think Jordan Zimmerman wouldn’t come close to winning the award, but in two years he will be “comeback” player of the year!

Get Oher or Maybin please

by Horcasitas4 on Nov 10, 2009 8:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

+1 on the future "Comeback Player of the Year"!!!

Having watched Zimmermann and Hanson, as impressed as I was with Zimmermann, Hanson’s special…I just can’t wait till Zimmermann’s back and the Nationals can have some Zimmermann/Jurrjens, Strasburg/Hanson matchups on the mound against Atlanta…

Somewhere in the future there’s good baseball coming…

Vivian Jaffe: "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Albert Markovski: "Yes. No. Uh, time, not space... No, I don't know what you're talking about."

by Ed Chigliak on Nov 10, 2009 9:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs