NL Rookie of the Year - The BBA Version

Thursday October 15, 2009

NL Rookie of the Year Award

As I spoke about earlier this week, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance is doing their own version of the BBWAA end of season awards.

We have chosen as a community of bloggers to vote using the same criteria as the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The BBWAA has two writers for each team vote on the awards. We want to give the fans of the teams we represent an alternative voice on these awards while holding ourselves to the same standards and criteria for voting. Websoulsurfer is one of the blogs that gets an opportunity to vote.

The San Diego Padres chapter of the BBA elected to have all 5 members vote and have the combined votes count for both votes. Votes were counted on a first place-3 points, second place-2 points, third place-1 point system.

For Rookie of the Year Award, the San Diego Padres chapter votes were:

First Place: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

Second Place: Tommy Hanson (ATL)

Third Place: Chris Coghlan (FLA)

The Websoulsurfer Votes:

NL Rookie of the Year

Normally pitchers get no love for Rookie of the year and my picks are no exception for 2009. I do feel that two rookie pitchers deserve at least a mention here.

J.A. Happ of the Phillies and Tommy Hanson of the Braves.

Happ went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 23 starts for the defending World Champion Phillies while filling in ably for Brett Myers and an ineffective Moyers on an injury decimated staff.

Hanson was a #5 for a strong staff led by Lowe, Vasquez, Kawakami and Jurrjens and went 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 21 starts. While he was not asked to step in and fill big shoes, Hanson still had an exceptional rookie season.

Now counting down my picks:

• 3 - Everth Cabrera – My Homer Vote – Jumped from Low A to the majors after being the Padres Rule V draft pick and hit .255 with 25 SB. His defense was erratic, he was spectacular when ranging far but often blew the routine play, but the promise of exceptional D is there.
  
  
• 2 - Andrew McCutchen - .286/.365/.471/.836 with 12 HR and Gold Glove quality defense in CF. McCutchen came up in Early June to take McClouth's place in the lineup and never looked back. So who will he be playing for in 2012?
  
  
• 1 - Chris Coghlan - 321/.390/.460/.850 with 9 HR playing LF. Coghlan got absolutely no love from the media. This was mostly because they never got to see him play. His team was never on TV. Left coast or Marlins. Either way you are pretty much invisible.

The rest of the Chapter voted as follows:

The Sacrifice Bunt

First Place: Andrew McCutchen

Second Place: Tommy Hanson

Third Place: Garrett Jones

Friar Forecast

First Place: Andrew McCutchen

Second Place: Tommy Hanson

Third Place: Colby Rasmus