Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Paul Skins ranked first in mock voting for the Rookie of the Year award in the National League. Chicago Cubs Shota Imanaga ranked third. 토토사이트

Major League official media MLB.com held a mock vote for the Rookie of the Year award on the 2nd (Korea Standard Time) with 39 experts participating. In the National League, Paul Skins, a sensation this year, collected 30 first-place votes and topped the list. 

Skins is a top-rated prospect who joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first-round pick in the 2023 Rookie Draft. In his second year as a member of the Major League, he has played in nine games (52 ⅓ innings), four wins and an earned run average of 2.06. He displayed strong fastballs and sharp breaking balls to get 70 strikeouts. He struck out a whopping 12.04 per nine innings.

MLB.com said, "Skin's made significant progress. They didn't even make it to the top five in May's mock vote for Rookie of the Year award (because they didn't make their debut), and they reached No. 3 in June and are now the front-runner in July. It might be a little surprising, but not everyone expected it." 

"But so far, Skins has been performing well to match that interest," wrote MLB.com , which commented, "Throwing a steady 100-mph fastball, a devastating splitter, and an unrivaled 'Splinker.' His 99.2-mph (159.6-mph) fastball ranks in the top 99 percent and his 34.1 percent strikeout rate is among the best in the Major League. He started nine times with the Pirates, posting a four-win, unbeaten ERA of 2.06 and catching 70 strikeouts in 52 ⅓ innings. In other words, he has shown the Pirates everything they and baseball fans wanted him to do." 

With the Skins making a splash, Imanaga, who won the Rookie of the Year award in April in the National League, fell to third place (two first-place votes). Imanaga is a veteran left-hander who recorded 64 wins, 50 losses and four holds with an ERA of 3.18 in 165 games (1002 ⅔ innings) in eight seasons (2016-2023) of the Japanese professional baseball league. He signed a four-year, 53 million-dollar contract with the Cubs this season, and succeeded in advancing to the Major League. He showed good performance in the early days of the season by winning the Rookie of the Year award in the National League in April, but struggled somewhat in June. His performance this season has been 7 wins and 2 losses with an ERA of 3.07 in 15 games (85 innings). 

MLB.com said, "Imanaga has definitely lost strength as he overwhelmed hitters with five wins and no losses with an ERA of 0.78. However, he has still performed quite well. Although his ERA has reached 6.89 since his start on May 30 (which fueled his collapse by allowing 10 runs in three innings against the Mets on May 22), Imanaga's ERA for the season is still very good at 3.07." 

"What's also noteworthy is that he is famous for throwing 92 miles of 'slow' fastballs, but he has a 24.1 percent strikeout rate, which is above the league average," said MLB.com , which emphasized Imana's performance. "One of the biggest secrets is that he is good at getting batters to chase balls outside the strike zone. His chase rate (the ratio of batters swinging on balls outside the strike zone) is 35.1 percent, which is the top 95 percent in the Major League. Despite his recent sluggish performances, Imana is playing an active role that allows any team to enter the starting rotation." 

The results of mock voting for the Rookie of the Year in the National League are No. 1 Paul Skins, No. 2 Jackson Merrill of San Diego, No. 3 Shota Imanaga, No. 4 Joey Otis of Milwaukee, and No. 5 Gavin Stone of the Dodgers. In the American League, Lewis Gill of the Yankees topped the list, followed by No. 2 Mason Miller of Oakland, No. 3 Colton Kauser of Baltimore, No. 4 Willie Abreu of Boston, and No. 5 Wyatt Langford of Texas.