Skenes, Gil pick up Baseball Digest Rookie of the Year awards
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Right-handers Paul Skenes of the Pirates and Luis Gil of the Yankees on Thursday were named Baseball Digest’s Rookies of the Year for 2024.
Skenes, the flamethrowing sensation who made his MLB debut less than a year after Pittsburgh drafted him first overall, is the winner in the National League. Gil, who had a May for the ages to launch his Rookie of the Year campaign, takes home the American League honor.
The BBWAA Rookie of the Year Award winners will be announced on Nov. 18.
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An 11-member panel determined the winners via independent votes. The panel was composed of baseball writers and broadcasters, including MLB.com’s Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jordan Bastian. Each candidate received three points for every first-place vote, two for each second-place vote and one for a third-place vote.
Both races were fairly close, with Skenes besting Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill by seven points (Skenes received nine first-place votes and Merrill received two), and Gil edging out Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser by four points (Gil garnered six first-place votes, Cowser received three and A’s closer Mason Miller received two).
Skenes was one of the most hyped pitching prospects in recent memory, drawing comparisons to former Nationals right-hander and 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg. Skenes made his MLB debut on May 11, just 307 days after being selected with the top overall pick in the Draft, making him the fastest No. 1 selection to reach the Majors in 35 years (Ben McDonald debuted in 1989, the same year he was drafted).
In 23 starts (133 innings) for the Pirates, Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts, a Pirates rookie record. He was the first Pirates rookie to be named an All-Star since second baseman Tony Womack in 1997, and he became the first rookie pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo in 1995.
Skenes is the fifth Pirates player to be named Baseball Digest’s NL Rookie of the Year, joining Johnny Ray (1982), Jason Kendall (1996), Warren Morris (1999) and Jason Bay (2004).
Gil, meanwhile, went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 29 starts (151 2/3 innings) for the Yankees. In May, the 26-year-old made six starts and posted an incredible 0.70 ERA over 38 2/3 innings. He struck out 44 and walked 12 in that span.
In 17 of his 29 starts on the season, Gil gave up no runs or one run, tying him with left-handers Tarik Skubal of the Tigers and Garrett Crochet of the White Sox for the most in MLB. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gil’s 17 starts of zero or one run allowed are the second most by a rookie in MLB history, behind only 21 by the Phillies’ George McQuillan in 1908.
Gil is the third Yankees player to be named AL Rookie of the Year by Baseball Digest -- the others are Derek Jeter (1996) and Aaron Judge (2017).
Six other players received votes in this year’s Baseball Digest Rookie of the Year balloting, three each in the NL and AL. The NL players are the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio, the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga and the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn. In the AL, Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox, Cade Smith of the Guardians and Austin Wells of the Yankees received votes.