Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America has unanimously voted Corey Seager the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year. With all due respect to Trea Turner and Kenta Maeda, this really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone. After all, Seager is a top-three finalist for National League MVP.
The 22-year-old Seager had a stellar 2016, batting .308/.365/.512 with a .372 wOBA and a 137 wRC+ in 687 plate appearances. He led NL rookies in both bWAR (6.1) and fWAR (7.5). His 26 home runs were second among NL rookies, behind just Trevor “Plays In Coors Field” Story. A full season from Trea Turner might have made this race a bit closer, but Turner only appeared in 73 games, versus Seager’s 157.
Seager is the first Dodgers shortstop to win Rookie of the Year, and the 17th Dodger overall (a Major League record, and it’s not especially close — second is a tie between the Athletics and the Yankees, with eight). However, Seager is the first Dodger to win the award in two decades. From 1992 through 1996, a Dodger rookie took home the prize every year (Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth).
The 2016 season was a memorable one for the Dodgers, and Corey Seager stands out as one of the highlights. His first full season in the big leagues should make Dodger fans very excited for what’s to come.
The Dodgers have a couple more nominations before baseball’s awards season is over. Tomorrow is the announcement of Manager of the Year, for which Dave Roberts is nominated (and which he has a good shot of winning). Most Valuable Player will be announced on Thursday, although Seager will most likely lose that one to Kris Bryant. Both of those broadcasts begin at 3 PM Pacific time on MLB Network.
