An off-season already stuffed full of accolades culminated in the biggest honor yet for Mariners rookie Julio Rodríguez, who was today named as one of three finalists for the Jackie Robinson AL Rookie of the Year award.
To be nominated as a finalist is a fait accompli for Seattle’s talented youngster, who outpaced the field sometime in the middle of the summer, putting an exclamation point on his candidacy when he was the only rookie to participate in the Home Run Derby and put on a show, falling just short of winning the crown. The bigger question was who would flank him in the finalist field of three, with Jeremy Peña, Adley Rutschman, Steven Kwan, and Bobby Witt Jr.