Did team success and degree of difficulty cement Jeremy Hellickson's win in the AL Rookie of the Year award race?
Without direct knowledge of what was in the hearts and minds of the 28 voters, I feel confident in saying this: Both factors certainly could not have hurt. The 24-year-old Tampa Bay right-hander made five starts during the month of September and all five came against AL East competition. There were two games against New York, two against Boston and one against a Baltimore squad that helped derail the Red Sox's season. Hellickson recorded a 2.67 ERA for the month as Tampa Bay went 4-1 in those games en route to clinching the AL wild-card spot in the final minutes of the regular season.
Combine Hellickson's late surge with an entire season of consistency ? his final stats stood at 13-10 with a 2.95 ERA over 189 innings ? and it was enough to earn a first-place vote on 17 of the 28 ballots. Los Angeles Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo was second in the voting with five first-place votes, followed by Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer (four), New York pitcher Ivan Nova (one) and Seattle pitcher Michael Pineda.
Hellickson is just the second starting pitcher to be named AL ROY in the past 30 years ? Justin Verlander is the other ? and his win certainly helps highlight what the Tampa Bay Rays have been able to do with their young talent. Hellickson joins Evan Longoria as a Rays Rookie of the Year winner and sets up an interesting question. Can Matt Moore keep the award at Tropicana Field with a breakout performance in 2012?
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