Major League Baseball’s annual awards week got underway Monday night with the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award. The Manager of the Year award will follow Tuesday, then it will be Cy Youngs on Wednesday and Most Valuable Players on Thursday.
As a reminder, these are regular season awards. There are 30 votes per award (two per MLB city in that league) and members of the Baseball Writers Association of America cast their ballots between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason. Here now are the 2024 Rookie of the Year award winners.
Skenes takes home NL Rookie of the Year
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates beat out Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill and Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio for the National League award.
“Today is a very exciting day for Paul, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and for me,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement. “While expectations for Paul were certainly high, he exceeded what most thought was possible during his first Major League season. He brought tremendous competitiveness and talent to our pitching staff. We’re extremely proud of all that Paul has accomplished during his historic rookie season. I look forward to the great future ahead for him and our organization.”
Skenes received 23 of the 30 first-place votes. Merrill received the other seven. Only four NL players received Rookie of the Year votes overall:
| 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paul Skenes, Pirates |
23 |
7 |
— |
136 |
|
Jackson Merrill, Padres |
7 |
23 |
— |
104 |
|
Jackson Chourio, Brewers |
— |
— |
26 |
26 |
|
— |
— |
4 |
4 |
Skenes, 22, was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2023 and worked his way to the majors pretty quickly, debuting in Pittsburgh on May 11. He would quickly become a sensation, to the point that he started the All-Star Game for the National League.
In 23 major-league starts this season, he went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings pitched. He compiled 5.9 WAR, which was fourth in the NL among starting pitchers. It was an incredibly productive season despite only making 23 starts.
Skenes is the fifth No. 1 overall pick to win Rookie of the Year, joining Carlos Correa (2015), Bryce Harper (2012), Darryl Strawberry (1983), and Bob Horner (1978).
Merrill, then, unfortunately, gets squeezed out. In 156 games, he hit .292/.326/.500 (127 OPS+) with 31 doubles, six triples, 24 home runs, 90 RBI, 77 runs, 16 steals and 4.4 WAR. Perhaps most impressively, he switched positions from shortstop to center field during spring training.
Chourio, 20, hit .275/.327/.464 (117 OPS+) with 29 doubles, four triples, 21 homers, 79 RBI, 80 runs, 22 steals and 3.8 WAR.
Though the Pirates have a long history, Skenes is only the second player in club history to win the Rookie of the Year. Jason Bay took the honor in 2004 and now Skenes joins him.
Keep in mind, Skenes is also a finalist for the Cy Young award. The Pirates have only won two of those, Vernon Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990.
Because he finished in the top two of the Rookie of the Year voting, Skenes will be credited with a full year of service time despite not being called up until May 11. That moves his free agency up from the 2030-31 offseason to the 2029-30 offseason.
Gil wins AL Rookie of the Year honors
The 2024 American League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year is Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil. He beat out his Yankees teammate, catcher Austin Wells, and outfielder Colton Cowser of the Orioles for the honor.
“Congratulations to Luis on an amazing season,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. “He worked so hard to put himself in a strong position heading into spring training after coming back from Tommy John surgery. Without a guarantee of a Major League spot, he absolutely kicked in the door this spring and went on to have a phenomenal rookie season. Luis continued to mature and develop all year and was one of the pillars of our rotation. I can’t wait to see what’s next for such a talented, young pitcher.”
Gil received 15 of the 30 first place votes and finished with 106 points. Cowser received 13 first place votes. He finished with 101 points. This is the second closest Rookie of the Year vote ever behind the 2003 AL race, when Angel Berroa of the Royals edged out Hideki Matsui of the Yankees by four points (88-84).
Here are the AL voting results:
| 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Luis Gil, Yankees |
15 |
10 |
1 |
106 |
|
Colton Cowser, Orioles |
13 |
11 |
3 |
101 |
|
Austin Wells, Yankees |
— |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
1 |
2 |
5 |
16 |
|
|
1 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
|
|
— |
2 |
5 |
11 |
|
|
— |
1 |
4 |
7 |
Gil actually debuted for the Yankees back in 2021, but he never exhausted his rookie eligibility until this season. In 29 starts, he went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.19 WHIP and 171 strikeouts,, though he led the majors with 77 walks. He worked 151⅔ innings. Perhaps the best part of his case here was that he wasn’t originally in the Yankees’ plans for the rotation. A spring training injury to Gerrit Cole left an opening and Gil seized the job and excelled.
Cowser, 24, was the fifth overall draft pick in 2021 out of Sam Houston State and debuted in 2023. In 153 games this season, Cowser hit .242/.321/.447 (123 OPS+) with 24 doubles, three triples, 24 homers, 69 RBI, 77 runs, nine steals and 3.1 WAR.
Wells, 25, hit .229/.322/.395 (103 ERA+) with 18 doubles, 13 homers, 55 RBI and 2.5 WAR.
The Yankees have a rich history of Rookies of the Year. Gil is now the 10th winner, following Gil McDougald (1951), Bob Grim (1954), Tony Kubek (1957), Tom Tresh (1962), Stan Bahnsen (1968), Thurman Munson (1970), Dave Righetti (1981), Derek Jeter (1996) and Aaron Judge (2017).
This is the first time two pitchers have won the Rookie of the Year awards since Craig Kimbrel and Jeremy Hellickson in 2011. It’s the first time for two starting pitchers since 1981.
