Braves closer wins Rookie of the Year

The Atlanta Braves picked up yet another award this offseason as closer Craig Kimbrel was unanimously named the National League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America, securing all 32 first-place votes. Kimbrel recently won the NL Rookie of the Year award from The Sporting News as well as the Players Choice Award for NL’s Most Outstanding Rookie. During his first full season with the team, Kimbrel set a new rookie save record with 46 while closing out a league-high 64 games. The all-star posted a 2.10 ERA and struck out 127 batters in 77 innings of work.

“I was definitely surprised by the unanimous decision,” said Kimbrel hours after winning the award. “It makes it that much more special. I never expected anything like that to happen.”

Kimbrel is in Hawaii for teammate Peter Moylan’s wedding and said that all of his teammates texted him congratulations. Kris Medlen even gave the closer a hug. “It is an honor. It’s an award you only get one chance to win.”

First baseman Freddie Freeman finished second after slugging 21 home runs while batting .282 with a .795 OPS. He also played well enough for Gold Glove consideration, committing just six error in 1456 chances over 156 games. His .996 fielding percentage was better than the league average and equal to that of Joey Votto, the Gold Glove winner in the National League at first base. Kimbrel said that Freeman was a good teammate and a good friend.

Last season outfielder Jason Heyward finished runner-up to San Francisco catcher Buster Posey. The last Atlanta Brave to win the award was Rafael Furcal in 2000. The franchise has had seven in its history, five while based in Atlanta.

While Kimbrel felt the award was “really cool,” it wasn’t one of his goals at the start of the year. “I didn’t go into the season saying I wanted to win rookie of the year. I just wanted to help the team win and go to the postseason.”

What does the Rookie of the Year plan for an encore? Hopefully a trip to the playoffs in 2012. “The end of the year is going to help me strive to be a better pitcher.”