Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña, Jr. named 2018 Rookies of the Year - MLB

Angels P/DH Shohei Ohtani and Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were named the Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Ohtani, 24, had a tremendous debut in Major League Baseball after spending five seasons playing in Japan. He both pitched and hit quite well, batting .285/.361/.564 with 22 home runs, 61 RBI, 59 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases in 367 plate appearances. On the mound, he went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and a 63/22 K/BB ratio in 51 2/3 innings. Ohtani’s season was marked by adversity as he was diagnosed with a sprained UCL. Ohtani did not undergo Tommy John surgery immediately. Instead, he simply stopped pitching and worked mostly full-time as a DH. He finally underwent Tommy John surgery after the season and will likely not pitch again until 2020.

Ohtani is the first Angel since Mike Trout in 2012 to win the Rookie of the Year Award, and the third player in franchise history along with Tim Salmon in 1993.

Ohtani received 25 of 30 first-place votes. Yankees third baseman and second baseman Miguel Andújar and Gleyber Torres finished in second and third place, respectively. Andújar got the other five first-place votes. Also receiving votes were Joey Wendle of the Rays (three second-place, eight third-place), Daniel Palka of the White Sox (one third-place), and Ryan Yarbrough of the Rays (one third-place).

Acuña, 20, entered the season as baseball’s No. 2 overall prospect behind Shohei Ohtani. His debut was delayed slightly as the Braves played games with his service time in order to gain another year of team control over him. But following his April 25 debut, he was in the big leagues to stay, batting .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs, 64 RBI, 78 runs scored, and 16 stolen bases in 487 plate appearances. Acuña was also an above-average defender according to the various defensive metrics.

Acuña is the first member of the Braves to win the Rookie of the Year Award since Craig Kimbrel in 2011. He’s the eighth Brave in club history to win the award, joining Alvin Dark (1948), Sam Jethroe (1950), Earl WIlliams (1971), Bob Horner (1978), David Justice (1990), and Rafael Furcal (2000) along with Kimbrel.

Acuña received 27 of 30 first-place votes. Second-place finisher Juan Soto of the Naitonals got two first-place votes and Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler, who finished in third place, got one. Those receiving third-place votes included Brian Anderson of the Marlins (4), Jack Flaherty (2) and Harrison Bader of the Cardinals (1), Yoshihisa Hirano of the Diamondbacks (1), and Jeff McNeil of the Mets (1).

Follow @Baer_Bill

The Yankees placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.

The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days.

After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.

“I took two days off and when I got to LA and threw that first day, I didn’t feel right,” Cortes said Tuesday. “But it was first day coming back from pitching so I knew it was going to be nagging a little bit. So I waited a little bit.

“That second day in LA was when I said something because it felt like I had pitched yesterday. So I wasn’t recovering in time.”

Cortes is 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts and has particularly struggled later in outings. Opponents are hitting .447 when facing him for the third time in a game.

Last year, Cortes was an All-Star and went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.

Randy Vásquez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to take Cortes’ spot in the rotation and will make his second career start in Thursday’s doubleheader. Vásquez made his major league debut May 26 against San Diego when the Yankees needed a starter because Domingo Germán was serving a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.