New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was chosen as the American League Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Bronx Bomber player to win the award since 1996 in the hands of former shortstop Derek Jeter.
Judge, 25, unanimously won the ballot for the North American Baseball Writers Association, whose result was released Monday on a MLB Network broadcast.
Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi was second, followed by Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini.
In a season in which he led the Young Circuit with 52 homers and led the Yankees to the final stage with the wild card, Judge also aspires to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
But the bid for the laurel to the most valuable is profiled tighter to face the second Venezuelan base, the star José Altuve, of the Houston Astros, and second baseman Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians.
The MVP award winner will be announced on Thursday through the same system.
Only two players have achieved the MVP and Rookie of the Year double in the same season and these were the Japanese outfielders Ichiro Suzuki who achieved the feat in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners and Fred Lynn got it in 1975 with the Boston Red Sox.
