NL Willie Mays Award Choice
By: Mike Reisman
Well, as you may have read, as a part of the
Baseball
Bloggers
Alliance, I am voting on post-season awards. Today is the Willie Mays award, which corresponds with rookie of the year. Of course, I learned that I needed three choices so my vote didn't count. Dusty Baker (my vote) of course goes on to lose to Bud Black by two points. Oh well.
3rd Place: Ike Davis- New York Mets: Davis was part of a very young New York team that looks to be very competitive in the near-ish future. He put up a solid .264 rookie average, driving in 71 RBIs and hitting 19 home runs. He did well getting 33 doubles, however, had 138 strikeouts, the most of any NL rookie.
Runner Up: Jason Heyward- Atlanta Braves: Heyward's numbers came very close to mirroring Davis', however he seemed just a bit better. He was able to manage 72 RBIs, and 18 home runs. His average was substantially better at .277, and he had ten less strikeouts, 128, but was still 2nd in the NL. The thing for me though, that puts him above Davis is that he was a critical part of a Braves team that won the NL wild card.
My Winner: Gaby Sanchez- Florida Marlins: Sanchez really made himself stand apart from NL rookies. He lead the NL rookies in RBIs with 85, thirteen more than second place Heyward. He also tied for third in home runs with 19. He was third in average, with a .273 average, just four points off of Heyward. However, he had a full 27 less strikeouts, showing much more discipline. He also was able to get twelve more hits, the best of NL Rookies. Not to mention that he threw a punch at baseball's newest villain Nyjer Morgan. Sounds like a ROY to me.