Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners has been voted the American League Rookie of the Year.
Rodriguez hit .284 with 28 homers, 75 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in helping the Mariners reach the postseason for the first time since 2001.
Rodriguez received 29 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, with Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman receiving the other.
Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, Kansas City Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. and Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the voting.
Voting was conducted before the postseason; Peña was voted MVP of the AL Championship Series and World Series.
Rodriguez, who added 25 doubles, is now the fifth Mariners player to win rookie of the year, after Alvin Davis (1984), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000), Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Kyle Lewis (2020).
Rodríguez and the Mariners agreed in August to a $209.3 million, 12-year contract starting next season that would be worth $469.6 million over 17 years if he wins two MVP awards.
“I feel like that’s when I learned the most — on the down parts,” Rodriguez said during a video conference with the media after winning the award.
“That rough start to the beginning, whenever I maybe was not doing so good, all those things that happened that first year that kind of opened my eyes — I’m gonna take all that. And I know it’s gonna serve me well along my career.”
