Still No. 1 in our hearts though.
Tyler Fitzgerald was one of the brightest spots of the 2024 San Francisco Giants season, and was one of the best rookies in the Majors. Unfortunately, the history books won’t quite reflect that.
On Monday, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America unveiled the winners of the 2024 American League and National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Awards. And while it once seemed inevitable that Fitzgerald would receive some down-ballot votes for that honor, he ended up shut out.
That was primarily due to a historically top-heavy rookie class in the National League, with Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill, and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio almost unanimously standing above the rest of the pack. Rookie of the Year voting is decided by 30 writers (two from each chapter of the National League), who all get to vote on a three-name ballot. Skenes (who won the award) and Merrill appeared on all 30 ballots, while Chourio appeared on 26 of the 30 ballots, leaving just four third-place votes to be grabbed by the rest of the rookie class. All four of those votes went to Chicago Cubs pitcher Shōta Imanaga.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area were the chosen San Francisco writers to vote for Rookie of the Year, and since the BBWA makes all ballots public, you can see how they and everyone else voted. Slusser opted for Skenes as the winner, while Pavlovic gave the nod to Merrill (all 30 voters had Skenes and Merrill in the top two spots). Both writers voted Chourio in third place.
That sort of consensus at the top is quite rare, so it was a little unprecedented to see only four names get votes, even if it was deserved. On the American League side, where New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil won, seven different players received votes (the AL had as many players receive first-place votes as the National League had votes, period). Last year, both Rookie of the Year Awards were won unanimously (by Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson), but even so, nine NL players received votes (including Giants catcher Patrick Bailey), while eight AL players earned attention.
When the season began, the Giants had visions of competing for the Rookie of the Year award from multiple positions. There was lots of optimism that their top prospect, pitcher Kyle Harrison, and their prized offseason signing, center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, would make strong cases, with hope that Marco Luciano would join that crew. But Harrison’s season, while encouraging, was also quite mediocre, while Lee’s debut was ended short due to a shoulder injury, and Luciano’s season was marked by confusion, miscommunication, and a lack of playing time.
Instead, Fitzgerald emerged as the team’s star rookie. Through August 14, Fitzgerald — primarily playing at shortstop, though he also saw time in center field, left field, and all three other infield positions — was hitting .318/.374/.637, with 14 home runs in 195 plate appearances, while stealing 12 bases in 14 attempts. For the rest of the season, he hit just .230/.281/.311, with one home run in 156 plate appearances, and five stolen bases in seven attempts. Perhaps most concerning to the Giants is that he struck out 53 times during that span.
That slump might have cost him a few of the votes that Chourio and Imanaga gathered, but it doesn’t change the fact that he had a fantastic rookie season, and established himself as an important part of the roster going forward.
While the Giants don’t get any Rookie of the Year votes this season, they’ll likely get some love in other categories. Manager of the Year is revealed today, which Bob Melvin certainly won’t be involved in, but Wednesday brings the unveiling of the Cy Young winners, and Thursday the MVPs. The Giants certainly can’t win either award (the finalists have already been announced), but they’ll likely get some down-ballot votes. The Cy Young ballot includes five players and the MVP ballot gets 10 players, so it seems safe to assume that, at a minimum, Logan Webb and Matt Chapman will appear on a few ballots.
And then we can officially say goodbye to the 2024 MLB season, and hopefully move on to a fantastic offseason.
How many days until Opening Day?
Just 128!