Texas Rangers End of the Year Awards: Round 2

Last night I presented you with the Texas Rangers End of the Year Awards for the Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, and Silver Slugger award winners. Today I will reveal the winners in the last 4 of 5 categories.

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As a reminder, I let each of the writers at Nolan Writin’ submit their individual votes (no list of players was provided) in 9 different categories. Each category winner is a result of majority vote except for Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year, where first place votes are worth five points, second place votes are worth three points, and third place votes worth one point with the award going to the player with the most points overall.

RELIEVER OF THE YEAR: Shawn Tolleson (3-1). This was another tough category to vote on. If Joakim Soria was still part of the Texas Rangers bullpen I’m confident that he would be the winner here, but Tolleson received the majority of votes. He finished the 2014 season with a 2.67 ERA and a final line of 71.2 IP, 56 H, 23 R/22 ER, 10 HR, 28 BB, 69 SO.

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Awarded to the player who is judged to have “re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season.”
Neftali Feliz (2-1) is the winner in this category; although, Colby Lewis was an extremely close 2nd.

Neftali Feliz, who is just 26-years old, has been through a lot in his short 6 season big league career. From making his Major League debut on August 3, 2009, and recording the last strikeout to Alex Rodriguez in the 2010 ALCS helping the Texas Rangers move on to the World Series, all the way to having Tommy John Surgery on August 1, 2012. Feliz re-emerged in September 2013 playing in only 6 games.

There was a buzz surrounding Nefti about being the favorite for the open closer position headed into this season’s Spring Training. Unfortunately, when camp broke Feliz was not with the big league team. However, Neftali Feliz finally got the call and finished the 2014 season with the Texas Rangers. He played in 30 games with 13 saves, and an 1.99 ERA.

CY YOUNG: Yu Darvish (10-7, 3.06). Again, since we have voted for only Texas Rangers players this shouldn’t come as a shock. Darvish may stressout some fans, but he’s as solid of an ace they come. He finished the season with a final pitch line of 22 G, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 144.1 IP, 133 H, 54 R/49 ER, 13 HR, 49 BB, 182 SO. Let’s hope that he brings a specialized bed with him to Spring Training this next year!

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rougned Odor. He made his ML debut on May 8, becoming the youngest player in MLB at just 20-years of age. In 114 games Roogie has 417 plate appearances, 39 runs, 100 hits that include 14 doubles and 7 triples, 9 homers, 48 RBI, 4 stolen bases, while being caught only 7 times. He finished the season with a batting line of .259/.297/.402, and is ranked 8th in the AL for triples (7).
While fielding at second base for 110 games Odor has played 933.0 innings. Roogie’s fielding line for 2014 (478 Ch, 194 PO, 275 A, 9 E, 70 DP, .981 Fld%) is impressive, yet shows (thank goodness) he still has some things to learn. Besides his stats, the young rookie brought an eagerness to learn and improve, along with his “old-school” type of play. Rougned Odor is a fun player to watch because he is aggressive and constantly trying to improve, yet have fun while doing it.

Just one last award to reveal later today, MVP. Who do you think deserves this coveted award? Let me know in the comments below and check back later to see if your player won!

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