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Here S Our Rookie Of The Year Ballot Played Out As Athletics Nick

Bonisiwe Shabane
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here s our rookie of the year ballot played out as athletics nick

MLB awards season is officially underway, with the announcement of this year’s top rookies Monday serving as the opening act in a week celebrating baseball’s best from the 2025 season. The Athletics’ Nick Kurtz took home the Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year Award unanimously. His teammate, shortstop Jacob Wilson, finished second with 23-second place votes. The Red Sox’s Roman Anthony finished third in the race with three second-place votes and 15 votes for third. Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin was also named NL Rookie of the Year on Monday. This year’s Rookie of the Year ballot came with a new wrinkle, as it was expanded from three to five spots, affording voters the opportunity to recognize a few more rookies from the season...

(For reference, MVP ballots have long featured 10 spots, and Cy Young ballots expanded from three to five in 2010). Each award’s electorate is made up of two representatives from each of the 15 chapters of the Baseball Writers Association of America coinciding with the 15 markets in each league, amounting to a total... This year, two of the 30 voters for AL Rookie of the Year were members of our MLB team: Russell Dorsey from the Chicago chapter and Jordan Shusterman from the Cleveland chapter. Major League Baseball kicked off its annual awards week festivities on Monday night by announcing the winners of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award in each league. (The Manager of the Year awards will be handed out on Tuesday, the Cy Young awards on Wednesday, and the Most Valuable Players on Thursday.) These awards are voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (that's two per MLB city in each league).

Votes were submitted before the beginning of the playoffs, meaning that only regular-season contributions are taken into account. Here are MLB's 2025 Rookie of the Year award recipients. Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz took home the honors in the American League, topping teammate and Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson and Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony. He is the 14th AL player to win the award unanimously and the second A's player, joining Mark McGwire (1987). Kurtz is the first Athletics player to win Rookie of the Year since closer Andrew Bailey in 2009. He's the first position player to do it since shortstop Bobby Crosby in 2004.

Overall, Kurtz is the ninth Athletics player to ever claim the award, though that accounting includes the franchise's time in Philadelphia and Oakland. Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz has won the American League Rookie of the Year award. (Michaela Schumacher / MLB Photos via Getty Images) Nick Kurtz did not crack the A’s roster for opening day. He did not hit a home run until his 17th big league game, and didn’t connect on his second until nearly a month deep into his big league career. At the time, it looked like his teammate, shortstop Jacob Wilson, was the early heavy favorite for an award that wasn’t at all on Kurtz’s mind at the time.

The young first baseman was just worried about proving he was worthy of a roster spot. On Monday — six months later — he was unanimously voted the American League’s Rookie of the Year, after completing one of the most impressive rookie seasons in baseball history. He’d already earned the American League Silver Slugger award at first base the week prior. “I’ve always had that confidence in myself, that I’m able to do that — be the centerpiece of a lineup, and help that lineup score a bunch of runs,” Kurtz told The Athletic in... “I think having that confidence in yourself is huge in this game.” Although the MLB hot stove is already in full effect, we've still got a week of season awards to look forward to as we reminisce about the 2025 season.

The week starts with the reveal of the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Awards on Monday, Nov. 10. The 2025 season was a tremendous year for rookies across Major League Baseball. Between Jacob Wilson's incredible bat control, Nick Kurtz's historic power, Drake Baldwin's high-end bat as a catcher, and Cade Horton's tremendous work on the mound, the decision in both leagues was likely a very... In the end though, neither decision seemed all that difficult. Kurtz won the award unanimously for the American League, while Baldwin took home 21 of 30 possible first-place votes.

Here's how Baldwin and Kurtz won, who the other finalists were and previous Rookie of the Year winners in both leagues: Despite strong cases for Cubs' starter Cade Horton and Brewers' infielder Caleb Durbin, the Braves' backstop earned the award after smashing an astounding 19 home runs with a .274 average and .810 OPS. Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz was a unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year, and Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin won the National League award. The 22-year-old Kurtz batted .290 with 36 homers, 86 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS in 117 games this year. The first baseman became the eighth rookie since 1901 to finish with an OPS over 1.000 while making at least 400 plate appearances. A’s teammate Jacob Wilson was second in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that was announced on Monday night.

Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony was third. Baldwin, 24, stepped up for Atlanta after No. 1 catcher Sean Murphy was sidelined by a cracked rib in spring training. While Murphy was limited by injuries for much of the year, Baldwin hit .274 with 19 homers, 80 RBIs and an .810 OPS in 124 games. Baldwin’s win secured an extra selection for Atlanta after the first round in next year’s amateur draft under the collective bargaining agreement’s prospect promotion incentive. Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz and Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin are the 2025 MLB Rookies of the Year.

They had the best seasons of hundreds of first-year players – though Justin Dean made the most improbable headlines. The award in each league is named after Jackie Robinson, the first rookie winner in 1947. Kurtz won in the American League following one of the best MLB rookie seasons ever. After only 32 games in the minors, the fourth overall pick in the 2024 Draft out of Wake Forest led all rookies in home runs (36), RBIs (86), extra-base hits (64), runs (90), slugging... On July 25 in Houston, he had one of the greatest performances in history, going 6-for-6 with four homers against the Astros. He became the first rookie with a four-homer game and only the 20th player overall.

National League winner Baldwin batted .274 -- second among NL rookies -- with 19 homers. The 24-year-old handled the experienced Braves staff, gaining their confidence by adeptly blocking pitches in the dirt Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz added another trophy to his quickly growing case Monday night: AL Rookie of the Year. Of surprise to few, if anyone, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced Kurtz as the unanimous 2025 winner. He is the second player from the Athletics to win the award unanimously, joining Mark McGwire (1987). This comes days after Kurtz became the only rookie to be among the 2025 Silver Slugger Award winners.

Kurtz is the ninth Rookie of the Year in Athletics franchise history. This is second in the American League to the 10 from the New York Yankees. The previous eight are McGwire, Harry Byrd (1952), Jose Canseco (1986), Walt Weiss (1988), Ben Grieve (1998), Bobby Crosby (2004), Huston Street (2005) and Andrew Bailey (2009). Additionally, Kurtz is the eighth AL first baseman to win the award. The others are McGwire, Walt Dropo (1950), Chris Chambliss (1971), Mike Hargrove (1974), Eddie Murray (1977), Alvin Davis (1984), and Jose Abreu (2014). Kurtz slashed .290/.383/.619 (122-for-420) across 117 games in 2025.

He had 26 doubles, two triples, 36 homers, and 86 RBI. Notably, he had a 1.002 OPS — one of three hitters in the majors with at least 400 plate appearances to break the 1.000 OPS barrier. The others are familiar even to non-baseball fans: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The capstone of Kurtz’s season came July 25 in Houston. That night, Kurtz went 6-for-6 with four homers and a double. Additionally, he had 19 total bases, eight RBI, and a record-tying six runs scored.

His 19 total bases tied the single-game record set by Shawn Green in 2002. In addition to being the first rookie to score six times in a game, Kurtz was the first Athletics player and first rookie to have a four-homer game. Since no one has ever hit five in a game, Kurtz tied that record as well. His teammate, shortstop Jacob Wilson, finished second in the voting. This marked the fifth time in the AL that teammates were the winner and runner-up. The others were Ron Hansen and Chuck Estrada (Orioles, 1960), Gary Peters and Pete Ward (White Sox, 1963), Fred Lynn and Jim Rice (Red Sox, 1975), and Alvin Davis and Mark Langston (Mariners, 1984).

It has happened far more recently in the NL, where it has occurred four times. The four pairs are Jack Sanford and Ed Bouchee (Phillies, 1957), Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith (Cubs, 1989), Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman (Braves, 2011), and Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider (Braves, 2022).

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