Seager, Fulmer Earn Rookie of Year Honors

By ESPN

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager was named the unanimous winner of the National League Rookie of the Year award on Monday, over teammate Kenta Maeda and Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals.

A first-round draft pick of the Dodgers in 2012, Seager delivered on the promise that had made him one of the top prospects in baseball. He is also one of three finalists for the National League Most Valuable Player award.

The 22-year-old shortstop batted .308 with 26 home runs and 72 RBIs, and he scored 105 runs for a Dodgers team that won its fourth straight NL West title. His 193 hits were the second-most in the National League, while his 6.1 WAR was the fourth-best in the NL.

Seager received the maximum 150 points in the NL vote, finishing well ahead of Turner (42) and Maeda (37).

Seager was also named an All-Star this year. He is the Dodgers' 17th Rookie of the Year winner and first since Todd Hollandsworth was honored in 1996 to complete a run of five consecutive NL ROY awards for Dodgers (Hideo Nomo 1995, Raul Mondesi 1994, Mike Piazza 1993, Eric Karros 1992). The Dodgers also had a run of four consecutive with Rick Sutcliffe (1979), Steve Howe (1980), Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Steve Sax (1982).

"It's obviously awesome to win it in general, but to bring it back to L.A. -- it hasn't been there for a while, and they're known as an organization for winning all those Rookie of the Years with Tommy Lasorda and all them,'' Seager said. "So it's pretty cool to be able to be connected to all the guys that came before you.''

Seager finished the season ranked among the NL leaders in hits (193, second), runs (105, fifth), doubles (40, seventh), multihit games (57, tied for second), extra-base hits (71, seventh), total bases (321, fourth), batting average (.308, seventh) and slugging percentage (.512, 10th). According to Stats, LLC, Seager is just the fourth rookie since 1969 to rank in the NL's top 10 in batting average and slugging percentage, joining Dusty Baker (1972, Braves), Mike Piazza (1993, Dodgers) and Albert Pujols (2001, Cardinals).

Michael Fulmer Named AL Rookie of Year

Detroit Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer was named the American League Rookie of the Year, beating finalists Gary Sanchez of the Yankees and Tyler Naquin of the Indians.

The 23-year-old right-hander went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA in 26 starts for a Tigers club that narrowly missed the playoffs.

"I'm really happy and blessed to receive this award,'' Fulmer said on a conference call. "I knew that both Gary and Tyler [Naquin] had outstanding years, and I hope to play against them for a long time.''

Over a 14-start stretch spanning late May to mid-August, Fulmer pitched 93⅔ innings and recorded a 1.44 ERA. He started that run by becoming the second pitcher in major league history to make four straight scoreless starts of at least six innings while allowing three hits or fewer, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

A late-season swoon caused a dip in Fulmer's numbers, however. Following his first career shutout in an Aug. 14 start, Fulmer pitched fewer than six innings in four of his final seven starts. During that post-Aug. 14 stretch, the righty's ERA steadily increased from 2.25 to 3.06.

Fulmer is the fifth Tigers player to win Rookie of the Year, joining Justin Verlander (2006), Lou Whitaker (1978), Mark Fidrych (1976) and Harvey Kuenn (1953). Verlander is now a mentor to Fulmer in the Detroit rotation.