The Major League Baseball awards season is among us, and the American and National League Rookie of the Year Award recipients were announced.
In the National League, the top three included Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres, and Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The American League’s top three players included Luis Gil of the New York Yankees, Colton Cowser of the Baltimore Orioles, and Austin Wells of the Yankees.
After the awards were announced and given to Skenes of the Pirates in the NL and Gil of the Yankees in the AL, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal admitted he was surprised about the award recipients.
“I actually was surprised by both, I thought Cowser was going to win in the AL. I was surprised Skenes won.” Rosenthal said.
“I was surprised Skenes won”@Ken_Rosenthal says he was surprised by the outcomes of both Rookie of the Year races 🏆 pic.twitter.com/37Vf9wWBHh
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) November 19, 2024
Rosenthal described why he was surprised that Skenes won and pointed out that he thought the award would lean towards a position player even though Skenes had a historic season.
Merrill played in 156 games for the Padres where he hit .292 with 24 home runs, 90 RBIs, and a .826 OPS.
Rosenthal was also surprised that Gil took the award for the American League and stated that he thought Cowser of the Orioles would win it.
Cowser played in 153 games for the Orioles and batted .242 with 24 home runs, 69 RBIs, and a .768 OPS.
Although Rosenthal thought that Merrill and Cowser would win, he does mention that the awards were well deserved by the seasons put together by Skenes and Gil.
