Julio Rodriguez wins Rookie of The Year
Julio Rodriguez became the 5th Seattle Mariner to win the Jackie Robinson Rookie if the Year Award for the American league when voting results were released.
JRod ran away with the award amassing 29 first place votes and 1 second place vote for 148 total points. Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles came in a distant second with 1 first place vote, 18 second place votes, and 9 third place votes for 68 points overall.
Rodriguez hit .284 and led all rookies in home runs (28), OPS (.855), and total bases (260). Along the way he became the first player in MLB history to hit 25 home runs and steal 25 bases in his first season and the third to do it, Mike Trout and Chris Young were the others, in his rookie eligible season.
He also signed a huge extension with the Mariners at the end of August that will pay him at least $210 million and as much as $470 million over the life of the contract. He also helped the 2022 Mariners end a 21 year playoff drought, the longest streak in all of professional sports.
He joins an impressive list of Mariners who also were named Rookie of the Year:
Kyle Lewis - 2020
Kyle Lewis was the most recent winner for the Ms in the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020. Lewis was a unanimous choice for the Award.
Ichiro - 2001
The future first ballot Hall of Famer became the first Japanese born position player to be posted and play in MLB. He went on to set a new rookie record for hits (242), hit .350 and stole 56 bases, becoming the first player since Jackie Robinson to lead a league in both categories. He was also a big part of the 2001 Mariner team that won 116 games tying the Major League record for wins in a season. It was also the second straight year a Mariner, and a Japanese born player, won the AL Rookie of The Year award. Ichiro also won the AL MVP Award that year becoming the second player in history to do so.
Kazuhiro Sasake - 2000
Kaz Sasaki saved his way to the 2000 Rookie of the Year with 37 in 62.2 innings pitched. Sasaki would save a total of 129 games for the Ms before returning to Japan after the 2003 season.
Alvin Davis -1984
"Mr. Mariner" took home the award in 1984 after hitting .284 with 161 hits, 27 home runs and 116 RBIs.
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