First Shohei Ohtani spurned the Yankees to join the Angels last offseason, now he’s denied them another AL Rookie of the Year.
The two-way star beat out the Yankees’ Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres for the award, the BBWAA announced Monday night. It kept the Yankees from having an AL Rookie of the Year for a second straight season after Aaron Judge won last year. While Torres was a finalist, it had been considered a two-horse race between Andujar and Ohtani.
Ohtani was superb at the plate and on the mound when he was healthy, matching feats last seen done by Babe Ruth. He went 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA in nine starts. In 70 games as a hitter, he hit .283 with 16 homers, 41 RBIs and a .935 OPS, but a tear in his UCL that was discovered in June limited his time on the field.
The 23-year-old Andujar, who made 15 errors in 149 games, led all major league rookies in hits (170), doubles (47), extra-base hits (76) and multi-hit games (53). He tied for the rookie lead in homers (27) and was second in runs (83) and batting average (.297). Andujar also was a major contributor for the Yankees during a pennant race. That fact helped make him the choice to win among baseball insiders.
Torres, who made his major league debut on April 22, hit .271 with 24 homers, 77 RBIs and an .899 OPS.
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