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Purple Row Awards: NL Rookie of the Year - Jason Heyward

By Bryan Kilpatrick Updated
Jason Heyward was floored when Rick Ankiel leaked the news that the young star won the Purple Row NL RotY.
Jason Heyward was floored when Rick Ankiel leaked the news that the young star won the Purple Row NL RotY.

It was a close vote, but the winner of your 2010 Purple Row NL Rookie of the Year is...

Jason Heyward

#22 / Right Field / Atlanta Braves

6-5

240

L

L

Aug 09, 1989

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2010 - Jason Heyward 142 520 83 144 29 5 18 72 91 128 11 6 .277 .393 .456

Heyward edged Buster Posey, who put up similar numbers but did not play as many games (through no fault of his own, mind you). Heyward burst onto the scene by homering in his first career at-bat on Opening Day, and while he experienced a few dry spells as a rookie, his slumps were never real prolonged due to his uncanny ability to get on base, as his 91 walks (which tied for fourth in the league) would suggest. He posted a .393 OBP, which was also good for fourth in the NL. In addition to all of that, Heyward had a knack for getting big hits - especially early in the season, when his WPA (Win Probability Added) was some huge number that I don't recall at this point. Eventually it leveled out, but he still placed - you guessed it - fourth in the NL with a 4.7 WPA figure.

More after the jump...

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2010 - Buster Posey 108 406 58 124 23 2 18 67 30 55 0 2 .305 .357 .505

Myself, along with ATF, voted Buster Posey first. I can't speak for Fish, but I placed Posey on top because of his premium position - in addition to the fact that he pretty much matched Heyward's production (although he was inferior in some rate stats) despite appearing in 34 fewer games. Although Posey didn't take home the honors, I'm sure Giants fans are thrilled to have that guy behind the plate for the better part of the next decade.

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Jaime Garcia 13-8 31 28 1 1 0 0 163.1 151 64 49 9 64 132 2.70 1.32

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2010 - Jhoulys Chacin 9-11 28 21 0 0 0 0 137.1 114 64 50 10 61 138 3.28 1.27

Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals and our Rockies' very own Jhoulys Chacin were not-so-arguably the two best rookie starters in the National League this season. Chacin was MAYBE a bit of a homer vote, but really - look at his numbers and don't forget to take into account where he pitched half of his games. It's really not all that far-fetched for him to garner some votes.

The voting breakdown:

Russ Jeff Fish A-Mart Bryan Silverblood WM
1 Heyward Heyward Posey Heyward Posey Heyward Heyward
2 Posey Posey Heyward Posey Heyward Posey Posey
3 Garcia Garcia Garcia Chacin Garcia Chacin Garcia

 

And here are the final points:

Player Points
Heyward 19
Posey 16
Garcia 5
Chacin 2

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