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Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. Wins 2023
Baseball Digest/eBay MLB Player of the Year Award

Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Selected as MLB Pitcher of the Year

Orioles’ Félix Bautista Voted MLB Relief Pitcher of the Year

 

Tuesday, October 3, 2023 – Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves has been selected as the 2023 Baseball Digest/eBay MLB Player of the Year. Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees has been voted MLB Pitcher of the Year while Félix Bautista of the Baltimore Orioles has been named MLB Relief Pitcher of the Year.

Acuña Jr. received 13 first-place votes from the independently submitted ballots of a 23-member “blue-ribbon” panel of longtime baseball observers, which included writers, broadcasters, former players, managers and executives. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels received nine  first-place votes and Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers one.

This is Baseball Digest’s 55th MLB Player of the Year award (1969-2023) and its 30th MLB Pitcher of the Year award (1994-2023). The MLB Relief Pitcher of the Year award was first presented by Baseball Digest in 2012 and annually since 2014.

Ronald Acuña Jr. became first player in MLB history with 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a single season in 2023 and led the Majors in hits (217), runs (149), on-base percentage (.416), total bases (383) and stolen bases (73) while leading the National League in OPS (1.012). The 25-year-old center fielder became one of just seven players in MLB history to collect at least 200 hits, 100 RBI, 145 runs and 40 homers in a season and the first to do so since Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees in 1937. The other six—DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Chuck Klein, Hack Wilson and Babe Ruth—are all enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Acuña Jr. is the second Braves’ player to be named MLB Player of the Year by Baseball Digest, joining Freddie Freeman (2020).

Gerrit Cole went 15-4 with a 2.63 earned run average (209.0 IP, 61 ER), 222 strikeouts and two shutouts in 33 starts this season. His 2.63 ERA was the lowest in the American League and the second lowest in the Majors, behind only San Diego’s Blake Snell (2.25). It marked the lowest ERA by a qualified Yankee since Rudy May recorded a 2.46 ERA in 41 games (17 starts) in 1980. The 33-year right-hander had six starts in 2023 of at least 7.0 innings and three or fewer baserunners allowed (H/BB/HP), the most in a single season in franchise history (previous high: Mike Mussina with four in 2001). He allowed two or fewer runs in 26 of his 33 starts, the most such starts in the Majors. (No other pitcher in the AL had more than 20 such starts.) Cole is the first Yankees’ pitcher to be named MLB Pitcher of the Year by Baseball Digest.

Félix Bautista recorded eight wins and 33 saves in 2023 despite missing the season’s final 34 games with an ulnar collateral ligament injury. The 28-year-old right-hander posted a 1.48 ERA in 61.0 innings-pitched over 56 appearances with 110 strikeouts and a .918 WHIP. A first-time All-Star in 2023, Bautista was named AL Reliever of the Month in April, June and July. He struck out multiple batters in 38 of his 56 outings and his 18 games with at least three strikeouts is tied for second most in a season by a reliever in Orioles history (since 1954) behind only 19 by Stu Miller in 1963 and Moe Drabowsky 1967. Bautista is the second Orioles’ pitcher to be named MLB Relief Pitcher of the Year by Baseball Digest, joining Zach Britton (2016).

2023 MLB PLAYER OF THE YEAR, VOTE TOTALS 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves 13 (39) 9 (18) 0 (0) 57
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels 9 (27) 8 (16) 5 (5) 48
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 (3) 6 (12) 11 (11) 26
Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves 0 (0) 0 (0) 4 (4)   4
Corey Seager, Texas Rangers 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (2)   2
Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)   1

 

2023 MLB PITCHER OF THE YEAR, VOTE TOTALS 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees 19 (57) 2 (4) 1 (1) 62
Blake Snell, San Diego Padres 3 (9) 20 (40) 0 (0) 49
Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves 1 (3) 0 (0) 11 (11) 14
Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (2)   2
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels 0 (0) 1 (2) 0 (0)   2
Kyle Bradish, Baltimore Orioles 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (2)   2
Sonny Gray, Minnesota Twins 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (2)   2
Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs 0 (0) 0 (0) 2 (2)   2
Kevin Gausman, Toronto Blue Jays 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)   1
Kodai Senga, New York Mets 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)   1
Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)   1

 

2023 MLB RELIEF PITCHER OF THE YEAR, VOTE TOTALS 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Félix Bautista, Baltimore Orioles 13 (39) 4 (8) 3 (3) 50
Devin Williams, Milwaukee Brewers 6 (18) 9 (18) 4 (4) 40
Josh Hader, San Diego Padres 1 (3) 4 (8) 2 (2) 13
Tanner Scott, Miami Marlins 1 (3) 3 (6) 0 (0)   9
Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians 1 (3) 1 (2) 3 (3)   8
David Bednar, Pittsburgh Pirates 0 (0) 0 (0) 5 (5)   5
Alexis Díaz, Cincinnati Reds 0 (0) 0 (0) 5 (5)   5
Jordan Romano, Toronto Blue Jays 1 (3) 1 (2) 0 (0)   5
Pete Fairbanks, Tampa Bay Rays 0 (0) 1 (2) 0 (0)   2
Mark Leiter Jr., Chicago Cubs 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1)   1

Votes were tabulated on a three-points-for-first-place, two-points-for-second-place and one-point-for-third-place basis.

Baseball Digest’s 2023 Voting Panel
Greg Amsinger, MLB Network host; Matt Baker, MLB Network researcher; Ned Colletti, former MLB general manager; Bob Costas, MLB Network host and play-by-play announcer; Mark DeRosa, MLB Network host and former MLB player; Jim Duquette, SiriusXM host and former MLB general manager; Mike Fitzpatrick, Associated Press, BBWAA; Robert Flores, MLB Network Host; Cliff Floyd, MLB Network analyst and former MLB player; Alyson Footer, MLB.com, BBWAA; Brian Kenny, MLB Network host; John Labombarda, Elias Sports Bureau, BBWAA; Bill Madden, New York Daily News, BBWAA; Joe Maddon, former MLB manager; Sean McAdam, Boston Sports Journal, BBWAA; Scott Miller, BBWAA; La Velle Neal III, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, BBWAA; Eduardo Perez, SiriusXM host, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball announcer and former MLB player; Steve Phillips, SiriusXM host and former MLB general manager; Karl Ravech, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball announcer and ESPN Host; Tracy Ringolsby, BBWAA; Alanna Rizzo, MLB Network host; Lauren Shehadi, MLB Network host and TBS reporter.

 

 

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