NEW YORK — Two-way star Shohei Ohtani was a singular sensation in voting for AL Rookie of the Year.
A standout on the mound and at the plate for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani was an overwhelming pick for American League Rookie of the Year after becoming the first player since Babe Ruth a century ago with 10 homers and four pitching wins in the same season.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. was a runaway pick for the NL honor over Washington outfielder Juan Soto in a contest between 20-year-olds.
A 24-year-old right-hander who joined the Angels last winter after five seasons with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters, Ohtani received 25 first-place votes and four seconds for 137 points from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting announced Monday.
A pair of New York Yankees infielders followed. Miguel Andujar was second with five firsts and 89 points, and Gleyber Torres was next with 25 points.
Ohtani was 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 512/3 innings in 10 starts, limited by a torn elbow ligament that required surgery on Oct. 1 and likely will prevent him from pitching next year. As a designated hitter, he batted .285 with 22 homers and 61 RBI and a .925 OPS in 367 plate appearances. He became the first player with 15 homers as a batter and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher in the same season.
Andujar hit .297 with 27 homers and 92 RBI in 149 games. The 23-year-old third baseman set a Yankees rookie record with 47 doubles, three more than Joe DiMaggio in 1936, and tied the AL rookie mark for doubles set by Boston’s Fred Lynn in 1975.
DODGERS: Pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu was the only player to accept among the seven given $17.9 million qualifying offers by their former teams on Nov. 2.
A 31-year-old lefty, Ryu was 7-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 15 starts, sidelined from May 2 to Aug. 15 by a groin injury.
Among those who didn’t accept were outfielder Bryce Harper (Washington), closer Craig Kimbrel (Boston), left-handers Patrick Corbin (Arizona) and Dallas Keuchel (Houston), outfielder A.J. Pollock (Arizona) and catcher Yasmani Grandal (Dodgers).
If a player who turned down a qualifying offer signs with another club before the June amateur draft, his former team will receive a draft pick as compensation after the first round.
MARINERS: The team is denying claims made by the recently fired training and conditioning director, who said management had disparaged Latino players. The Mariners issued a statement following the social media postings from Lorena Martin in which she claimed General Manager Jerry Dipoto, Manager Scott Servais and Director of Player Development Andy McKay had called Latino players “lazy, dumb and stupid, especially the Dominicans.” Martin, whose title with the team was director of high performance, posted her message on Instagram and Twitter .
The Mariners said Martin, who was hired with much fanfare last year, was let go on Oct. 10.
TWINS: Joe Mauer is leaving the playing field after a 15-year career, but not Minnesota or the Twins.
With his wife, Maddie, due any day with the couple’s third child, Mauer’s focus in retirement for now will be fatherhood.
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