Nothing unexpected happened. Paul Skinns (22), the Pittsburgh Pirates who wrote the first several history books in the Major League, won the NL Rookie of the Year award. As always, he was with his beautiful girlfriend Libby Dunn (22) of Louisiana State University.
The official Major League website MLB.com officially announced the Rookie of the Year in 2024 on the 19th (Korea Standard Time).
In the National League, Skins scored a total of 136 points with 23 first-place votes and seven second-place votes, beating Jackson Merrill (San Diego Padres) with 104 points (7 first-place votes and 23 second-place votes). It is the second rookie award for the Pittsburgh club since Jason Bay in 2004, and the fifth first overall pick in the Major League after Bob Horner in 1978, Daryl Strawberry in 1983, Bryce Harper in 2012, and Carlos Correa in 2015.
It was expected. This year, Pittsburgh ranked last in the Central Division of the National League with 76 wins and 86 losses. Despite his worst performance, however, Skins had 11 wins (three losses), tied for first place in his team, and posted an ERA of 1.96 over 23 games. He also had 170 strikeouts over 133 innings, informing the world why he is the No. 1 overall pick.
Skins received a lot of attention from the University of Louisiana as he threw fastballs with an average speed of 99 miles per hour and up to 102 miles per hour. He was named the No. 1 overall first round of the 2023 Major League Rookie Draft, and quickly rose to the big leagues by destroying the minor leagues with a 1.85 ERA in 12 games.
His sense of security was not comparable to that of a rookie. As a starting pitcher, he allowed only 2.2 walks while striking out 11.5 times per nine innings. With outstanding performance since the beginning of the season, a rookie has taken the mound as a starting pitcher for the first time since Hideo Nomo in 1995. His 170 strikeouts were the most among the rookie players for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and his 1.96 ERA was the lowest among the rookie players in the Major League this year.
Also, according to MLB.com , Skins was the first rookie pitcher in 111 years since his earned-run record became official in 1913, with 170 strikeouts or more and a 2.00 ERA.
Next to him was his college alumnus and girlfriend Dunn, who made headlines with enthusiastic cheers at every start of the year. Dunn had fun by giving cookies to celebrate the rookie of the year in person. The cookies were introduced on the official SNS account of the Major League. As a popular gymnast and celebrity with 5.4 million followers, Dunn recently participated in the rookie baseball card for the season.
Meanwhile, in the American 토토사이트 League, Lewis Hill (26, New York Yankees) scored a total of 106 points with 15 first-place votes, 10 second-place votes, and 1 third-place vote, narrowly beating Colton Kauser (13 first-place votes, 11 second-place votes, and 3 third-place votes).
Hill, who made his big league debut in 2021, only played 33 ⅓ in seven games before this year due to Tommy John Surgery meant to link tendon in his elbow, and was able to maintain his eligibility for the Rookie of the Year award. However, after returning from rehabilitation this year, he showed ace-class performance with 15 wins and 7 losses with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 151 ⅔ innings, leading the Yankees to advance to the World Series. With this award, Hill became the first Yankees player to win the Rookie of the Year award since Aaron Judge in 2017.
Meanwhile, as Skinns and Hill won the Rookie of the Year award, the Rookie of the Year of the Major League set a new record of becoming the starting pitchers for the first time in 43 years. The last duo of starting pitchers before Skinns and Hill were Fernando Valenzuela (LA Dodgers) and Dave Richey (New York Yankees) in 1981.