MLB Rookie of the Year nomination goes to Tampa Bay Ray’s Jeremy Hellickson – MLB News
No matter if the American League’s eastern club Tampa Bay Rays could not act as per the expectations of the fans and the baseball experts, whenever the name of the 2011 regular season will be called, the club will be the part of the announcement, one way
or other.
The most prestigious organisation of baseball, Baseball America, has nominated the MLB Rookie of the Year and it is none other than the Rays’ Jeremy Hellickson.
Hellickson posted 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA in his 29 starts this season. However, what made him stand out from the others are his 20 quality starts and a 2.10 opponent average, better than any other rookie in this season.
Before moving to this quality, the right-hander has also taken two valuable awards in the Month of the May--American League Rookie of the Month and AL Pitcher of the Month.
Experts believe that the rookie has made a type of improvement that has not been seen for many years. Hellickson started the 2011 season as a fifth starter, but proved himself worthy of the first position. The right-hand pitcher made his first complete outing
on May 13, in which he drove his club to a 3-0 victory over the division rivals Baltimore Orioles.
According the experts, the player has also posted a performance that made him the best candidate for the AL’s Rookie of the Year Award that would be announced on November 14 with the help of votes by the Baseball Writer’ Association of America. Hellickson
has the lowest ERA than any other AL Rookie of the Year winner since 1990 when the Royals’ Kevin Appier posted 2.76 ERA. The combination of wins, innings and ERA that Hellickson posted had not seen since 1980, when Britt Burns did it for the Chicago White
Sox.
Although Hellickson had made his debut against the Minnesota Twins on August 2, 2010 but the club sent him back to Triple-A for some extra practice. During his debut, he crushed six batters of the Twins and held them to just two runs over seven innings.
Hellickson’s tremendous performance and commitment to hard work has got him the attention that all rookies desire.
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