Twins Daily Rookie of the Year - 2024

[Matt Braun]

Read and rejoice in the best-performing rookies to grace the Twins in 2024. 

 

The end of the season ushers in many things—offseason predictions, complaining about how the year went, etc, etc, etc—and one of those great processions is our Awards voting. Yes, we, the writers at Twins Daily, gathered in a great session, only exiting when white smoke augured our shared agreement and correct opinions regarding the winners of our prestigious accolades. Or maybe we all sent an email to Seth. You’ll never know the truth. 

Today, we will tackle the Rookie of the Year honor. Somewhat distinguished in that a player only has one* chance to win it, the Rookie of the Year award acknowledges an individual who entered the season with fewer than 50 innings pitches, less than 130 at-bats, or fell short of a byzantine bylaw regarding time accrued on the Major-League roster. These players aren’t necessarily expected to make an impact, but sometimes they do—and this piece will spotlight and applaud the rookies who best influenced the 2024 Twins.

*Ben Simmons stands as the exception.

Honorable Mentions
Brooks Lee 
You know who Brooks Lee is: since being taken 8th overall in the 2022 draft, Lee appeared earmarked for a future as a classic slick-fielding infielder, the kind of guy who accentuates the baseball-specific athletic prowess that intoxicates and hypnotizes fans. Plus, he could hit a little bit. And he was a switch-hitter. And his dad was a coach. What wasn’t to love?

Lee arrived the day before the 4th of July and smacked the ball like Thomas Jefferson smacked King George III with the Declaration of Independence (I know it’s a stretch, but deal with it.) He had a hit in six straight games and was slashing .275/.329/.377 through his first 17 games. The prospect that was promised had arrived.

That was the best of it, though, as Lee settled into a prolonged slump, got injured, and hit poorly in his September return. Still, that early July boost loomed large in our voter’s minds, and Lee earned an honorable mention on our list.

Zebby Matthews
Zebby! The man known as Daniel Zebulon Matthews was known far and wide amongst those select nerds who scoured minor league box scores and unearthed AA footage like a baseball Indiana Jones. An 8th-round pick in the same draft as Lee, Matthews blitzed through the minors. He rarely walked a batter, pounding the zone with surprisingly vibrant stuff for a strike-thrower. He was named the Twins minor league pitcher of the year for his incredible efforts. 

With a decimated starting rotation, the Twins gave Matthews the call on August 13th, and he answered with five quality frames against the playoff-bound Royals. Two more solid starts portended disaster: a two-inning, nine-run stinker against Toronto that could only be wiped away with a Hershiserian shutout streak. That did not come to pass, and—despite some seriously impressive starts—Matthews ended 2024 with a Major League ERA of 6.69. He’ll claim the final honorable mention of the list.

#3. Austin Martin
Expectations have been high for Austin Martin for nearly half a decade. A 5th overall pick out of Vanderbilt in 2020, Martin joined the Twins following the José Berríos trade in 2021, marking him as a potential star on a Minnesota squad sometime in the future. 

His path through the minors was tougher than expected—the power that was promised never came, and his contact-focused approach invited bountiful dry stretches—but Martin made the team out of spring training and stayed up for most of the season, accruing 257 plate appearances across 93 games. He slashed .253/.318/.352. Perhaps his strongest asset was something the team has dearly missed in recent years: baserunning. Martin is a madman on the diamond. He begets chaos and nonsense. His legs buoyed his ballpark-of-average bat and dreadful glove to become a passable ballplayer. We’ll see what’s next for the 25-year-old.

#2. David Festa
Much like Matthews, David Festa was a part of Minnesota’s “Oops, (almost) All Rookies!” starting rotation down the stretch. A 13th-round pick in 2021, Festa added muscle and velocity following his selection and made the jump from no-name later-round pick to legitimate prospect in 2022. 

The Twins promoted Festa in late June, and outside of a brief demotion in July, he stayed as a reliable contributor the rest of the way. Striking out 27.8% of batters, Festa worked to the tune of a 4.90 ERA spread across 64 1/3 innings. 

Brilliance struck at times—like when Festa worked six innings with just two earned runs against the Braves or when he held the Cubs scoreless over five frames—but the muck of inconsistency struck a little too often; his final four starts totaled 10 earned runs across 17 innings. Still, Festa flashed promise, and for his efforts, we voted to make him the 2nd place finisher in the Twins Rookie of the Year race.

#1. Simeon Woods Richardson 
Yeah, you shouldn’t be shocked. Without a particularly strong competitor, Simeon Woods Richardson stood head and shoulders above everyone; without him, Minnesota probably loses hope in the playoff race far sooner. 

Woods Richardson made a spot start during a doubleheader on April 13th and essentially remained in the rotation until the very end. Across 133 2/3 innings, Woods Richardson struck out 20.6% of batters and held an ERA of 4.17, a number that was much lower until he—like the rest of the team—broke down in September. Not bad for a pitcher with less than 10 big-league innings entering the season.

Given his breadth of play and the lack of a real challenger, Woods Richardson nabbed 12 of 14 first-place votes, making him the almost unanimous winner of the Twins Daily Rookie of the Year award. With such an excellent season under his belt, Woods Richardson looks well-set to be a cog in the Twins rotation for years to come.

Previous Winners
2023 - Royce Lewis
2022 - Jhoan Duran
2021 - Bailey Ober
2020 - Ryan Jeffers
2019 - Luis Arraez
2018 - Mitch Garver
2017 - Trevor Hildenberger
2016 - Max Kepler
2015 - Miguel Sanó

Final Vote Tallies
Simeon Woods Richardson - 39
David Festa - 27
Austin Martin - 13
Zebby Matthews - 3
Brooks Lee - 2

 

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[Doctor Gast]

Due to bad management, a lot of burden were put on our rookies & they raised to the occasion producing to the best of their abilities. Hoping next season they'll be put in better positions to progress. Sims outperformed all of them & acted like a MLBer. Congratulations to Sims!

[bean5302]

RoY is between Festa and Sim. Nobody else should even be an honorable mention. Negative WAR = no consideration.

I guess I'd probably give it to Sim since Festa's actual performance trailed his FIP quite a bit, and for good reason and Sim contributed more. 

 

[Brandon]

No love for Henriquez? Or Blewett as he didn’t blow his opportunities.

[gman]

While it would have been nice if the Twins had 4 rookies with stronger seasons than Richardson, he had a good if unplanned for season by a rookie. Ownership left management in an untenable position with regards to the pitching roster this year, however management has done a good job in developing pitchers, as well as every day players to fill the roster with. I Just hope for better health next year, its past time for some good luck on the injury front.