LAS VEGAS — Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz was the unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year, and Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin was named the National League winner, Major League Baseball announced Monday night.
Kurtz, 22, received all 30 first-place votes after hitting .290 with 36 home runs and 86 RBIs. His 1.002 OPS ranked third in MLB behind Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, though he did not qualify for the batting title because he was called up in late April. Kurtz still finished with 4.6 fWAR, good for 25th in the majors.
His signature performance came July 25 against the Houston Astros, when he hit four home runs in a single game — becoming the 20th player in history to do so. He also had a two-homer game later in the season, again versus the Astros. Kurtz led rookies in homers and RBIs, ranked second in on-base percentage and third in hits.
“It’s a great ending to the first year,” Kurtz said on MLB Network after the announcement. “I’m going to use this, and keep on grinding, and come out better next year.” He added that the unanimous vote “showed that every person felt the same way” and called the 30 votes “pretty remarkable.”
Teammate Jacob Wilson finished second in the voting, earning 23 second-place votes, and Boston’s Roman Anthony was third. Kurtz and Wilson are the first teammates to finish 1-2 in AL Rookie of the Year balloting since Alvin Davis and Mark Langston in 1984. Other AL vote-getters included Kansas City’s Noah Cameron and Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery, who finished fourth and fifth.
In the NL, 24-year-old Baldwin edged out Chicago Cubs starter Cade Horton and Milwaukee’s Caleb Durbin. Baldwin received 21 first-place votes to Horton’s nine. Baldwin hit .274 with 19 home runs, a .341 on-base percentage and 80 RBIs across 124 games, posting the highest OPS among qualified rookie catchers. Horton’s strong second half, featuring a 1.03 ERA after the break, wasn’t enough to overtake Baldwin.
“I had no idea,” Baldwin said on his conference call. “You see some of the polls and stuff, and it was looking more like Horton. Then, I had buddies that were telling me ‘I was going to win.’” He said he went into the announcement “with an open mind” and felt honored to be a finalist.
Other National League vote recipients included Brewers outfielder Isaac Collins (fourth) and Washington’s Daylen Lile (fifth).
Under the current CBA rules, Kurtz receives a full year of major league service time for winning the award, but the A’s will not receive an extra draft pick because he was not on the big-league roster for at least 172 days. The Braves will earn a draft pick thanks to Baldwin’s win.
