During an MLB season where there was no shortage of young stars, Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa towered above the rest.
Bryant, 23, won the National League Rookie of the Year and Correa, 21, won the American League Rookie of the Year on Monday night. The awards were presented at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network.
The Baseball Writers Association of America felt these two rookies were above and beyond the others during "The Year of the Call Up."
Bryant was a unanimous vote and Correa edged out Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor by four first-place votes.
.@KrisBryant_23 led all rookies w/ 26 HR (tie), 99 RBI, 31 2Bs, 87 R. No wonder he's #NLROY: https://t.co/W7qL70gxVw pic.twitter.com/rl3Zq7Bain
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 16, 2015
Congrats #Astros SS @TeamCJCorrea, the 2015 @officialBBWAA AL Rookie of the Year! #Represent #CorreaROY pic.twitter.com/6PFgIuMRPw
— Houston Astros (@astros) November 16, 2015
Both rookies helped their teams snap longstanding postseason droughts. The Cubs made the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and reached the NLCS for the first time since 2003 while the Astros made their first playoff appearance since 2005 and notched their first winning record since 2008.
Bryant was long expected to be the NL ROY as he's been the most talked about prospect in years. He led the minor leagues in home runs in 2014, which was his first full professional season. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 MLB draft batted .275/.369/.488 with 87 runs scored, 26 home runs, 99 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 151 games this year.
He broke the Cubs' franchise rookie record for home runs, passing Hall of Famer Billy Williams back in September. He led all MLB rookies in doubles (31), runs scored (87), home runs (26), RBI (99), OPS (.858) and WAR (6.0) and also finished second in hits (154) and walks (77).
He also led the NL in strikeouts with 199, but who's counting?
As for Correa, the Astros' phenom batted .279/.345/.512 with 52 runs scored, 22 home runs, 68 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 99 games this past season. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft logged only 24 games about Double-A before making his MLB debut. He hit .313/.392/.491 with 195 runs scored, 28 home runs, 199 RBI and 54 stolen bases in 282 career minor league games.
Correa set the Astros' rookie home run record in October and passed Lance Berkman, who set the previous mark back in 2000. Back in June he also became the second-youngest player in the last century to steal three bases in a game (Rickey Henderson is the only player who did it at a younger age).
It's going to be a bright future for these two young stars, as they're expected to be among the best in the MLB for years to come.
