At the beginning of spring training, Jonathan India, who had never played above Class AA, was just hoping for a chance to prove himself. Randy Arozarena was coming off a once-in-a-generation playoff explosion that included a historic power surge and sudden stardom. On Monday night, they were named Major League Baseball’s rookies of the year.
India took 29 of 30 first-place votes to earn the National League award for the Cincinnati Reds. Arozarena, whose Tampa Bay Rays teammate Wander Franco also was a finalist, received 22 of 30 votes in the American League.
India, 24, led all NL rookies in RBI (69), runs (98), doubles (34), extra-base hits (57) and walks (71). He was named a Silver Slugger finalist at second base, and Reds legend Johnny Bench presented him with the top rookie award Monday night.
“For me, it’s just a huge accomplishment to make this come true,” he said. “Oh, man, I was at a loss for words when I heard. I didn’t even know what to say.”
No Reds player had been the rookie of the year since pitcher Scott Williamson in 1999. No Reds position player had done so since 1988, when third baseman Chris Sabo won it eight years before India was born. But India’s peers felt he was the clear pick, too: He won the MLB Players Association Players’ Choice Award as the NL’s top rookie.
“I had butterflies in my stomach until this moment,” said India, who recalled telling reporters that winning rookie of the year honors was among his lofty goals for his debut season.
India wasn’t even competing for a major league job when spring training began. The 2018 first-round pick out of Florida did not receive an invitation to major league spring training when the Reds opened camp. The team began testing him in short stints as one of the many young call-ups who get a chance when the regulars leave spring training games after a few easy innings.
By mid-March, India was hitting so well that the Reds had cleared a path for him, moving Eugenio Suárez from third base to shortstop and Mike Moustakas from second base to third base. By June, India was starting at second base and leading off for Cincinnati, which had the fifth-best on-base-plus-slugging percentage in the majors by season’s end.
Miami Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers received the other first-place vote and 26 of 30 second-place nods to finish second on the writers’ ballots. St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson was a distant third.
Arozarena took a distinctly different path to the award. The outfielder debuted for the Cardinals in 2019, then burst onto the scene after he made the Rays’ postseason roster in 2020 despite having just 84 regular season at-bats to his name. He proceeded to hit .377 with a stunning 10 home runs — the most in a postseason in major league history — and claimed AL Championship Series MVP honors as the Rays went to the World Series, meaning his was already a familiar name by the time his rookie season began in 2021. No one had ever won rookie of the year honors the season after claiming a postseason MVP award.
And while the 26-year-old never could have kept up his postseason pace for a full season, he didn’t flop, either. Arozarena hit .274 with 20 homers, 69 RBI, 94 runs, 32 doubles, 20 steals and an .815 OPS — adding up to 3.3 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. The only rookie with a higher WAR was India (3.9).
Franco, 20, finished with 2.5 WAR in a stellar 70-game stretch. Long considered the top prospect in baseball, he hit .288 with an .810 OPS and quickly looked like the impact player he’s expected to be. He earned two first-place votes along with Houston Astros starter Luis Garcia, who finished second in the overall voting. Franco was third; Texas Rangers slugger Adolis García received three first-place votes to finish fourth.
