Rogers finishes second in NL ROY voting
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MIAMI -- Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers on Monday night finished as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Reds second baseman Jonathan India won the honor, with Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson coming in third.
? All-time Rookie of the Year Award winners
Rogers fell short of becoming the fifth ROY winner in franchise history, and the first since the late Jos¨¦ Fern¨˘ndez in 2013. Rogers received one first-place vote, 26 second-place votes and three third-place votes for 86 points, behind runaway winner India's 148 (29 first-place votes, one for second).
? Rookie of the Year vote totals
"I'm very honored," Rogers told MLB.com last week about being a finalist. "I still want to win it. I think the other two guys feel the exact same way, and they're very deserving of it as well. I'm just very honored that I was even considered a finalist with all of the rookies that were in the game this year. Just very blessed. I get to represent the Marlins' organization, top three rookies in the National League, so I'm very humbled and gracious of that honor."
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Rogers, who turned 24 on Saturday, paced NL rookies in ERA (2.64), innings (133), strikeouts (157), WHIP (1.15) and batting average against (.218) in 25 starts. Since the mound was lowered in 1969, only six rookie pitchers had matched his season-total wins (seven) and strikeouts, while recording as low an ERA. Five of them went on to win the NL ROY Award: Fern¨˘ndez, Hideo Nomo ('95), Dwight Gooden (ˇ®84), Fernando Valenzuela (ˇ®81) and Jon Matlack (ˇ®72).
During the first half of the season, Rogers became the early frontrunner by winning NL Rookie of the Month honors in April and May. He posted a 2.31 ERA over 101 1/3 innings with nine quality starts, earning a spot in the All-Star Game. But Rogers did not complete six innings in an outing after June 29 -- a stretch of 10 starts (3.69 ERA). He skipped a start in July with back spasms, and family health matters kept him away from the mound in August. In his first three starts back, he recorded a 4.97 ERA before looking more like himself with a 1.74 ERA in his final two.
"I wouldn't change my decision [to step away] for anything," he said. "I think that's kind of what's going to really predict how this Rookie of the Year race is going to go, because I know that that month off really changed a lot of things. But at the end of the day, if that's what changed it, I'm completely content with that, because I know that at the end of the day, I made the right decision in being there for my family during the hard times."