Minnesota Twins’ Luis Arraez finishes sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting

The Minnesota Twins rookie had a stellar rookie season, but couldn’t gain the attention needed to take home the American League Rookie of the Year award.

One of the biggest highlights of the Minnesota Twins’ season was the performance of Luis Arraez. The 22-year old made an instant impact after making his way to the major leagues last May and quickly became a key component of the Twins’ offense and one of the most popular players on the team.

Despite his strong impact, his stellar rookie season wasn’t enough to grab the attention of the rest of the nation as he finished sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year award voting, which was announced on Monday evening.

Arraez made his money at the plate, where he posted a .334 average that would have been second across Major League Baseball if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. Regardless, Arraez didn’t seem to be fazed by the uptick in competition as he continued a rise where he hit no lower than .309 across any level in the Twins’ organization.

What might have hurt Arraez was his lack of power as he hit just four home runs over 326 at-bats. Such a number may have been a detriment in a year where home runs reached video game numbers across all of baseball. Regardless, Arraez still earned a second-place vote to finish tied for sixth with Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez took home the award in unanimous fashion taking home all 30 first-place votes after hitting .313 with 27 HR and 78 RBI over 87 games. Alvarez was followed up by Baltimore’s John Means (12-11, 3.60 ERA, 16 second-place votes) and Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe (.270, 17 HR, 51 RBI, six second-place votes).