Adolis García selected as 2021 American League Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News
Arlington, Texas—Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García has been selected as the winner of 2021 The Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year Award, it was announced this morning.
The Sporting News annual baseball awards are selected in voting by Major League players during the final two weeks of the regular season.
García becomes just the third Texas Ranger to win A.L. Rookie of the Year honors from The Sporting News_, which has been presenting it annually since 1946, joining a pair of first basemen, Mike Hargrove in 1974 and Pat Putnam in 1979. Detroit’s Austin Jackson was the A.L. Rookie recipient in 2010, when Rangers RHP Neftali Feliz captured the BBWAA A.L. Rookie of the Year Award. From 1961-2003, _The Sporting News awarded a Rookie Player and Pitcher Award in each league before returning to a single A.L. and N.L. recipients in 2004.
García generated one of the most productive rookie seasons in Rangers history, setting team rookie records for home runs (31), RBI (90), and total bases (264), just the 14th rookie in American League history to hit 30+ HR with 90+ RBI in a season, the 3rd to do so this century: CWS’ Jose Abreu (2014) and NYY’s Aaron Judge (2017). He led MLB rookies in RBI, total bases, and extra base hits (59) and placed second in homers while topping all A.L. rookie position players in STATS Inc. WAR (3.9). He is just the 8th rookie in MLB history with at least 30 HR, 80 RBI, and 10 stolen bases (16) in a season.
Promoted from the Alternate Training Site on April 13, García went on to start in CF (76), RF (49), DH (13), and LF (8). He tied for the MLB lead with 16 outfield assists, a Texas rookie record, and led all MLB rookies at any position with 16 defensive runs saved in the Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) metrics.
He was selected as the Texas Rangers Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year for 2021, the first time in club history a player has won both awards in the same season
The three finalists for each of the 2021 Baseball Writers Association of America awards will be revealed on Monday, November 8 with the BBWAA A.L. Rookie of the Year announcement scheduled for Monday, November 15.