The Blue Jays are the favorites to win an award they last won in 2002

[Bryan Jaeger]

The last time the Toronto Blue Jays won the Rookie of the Year Award was in 2002, when Halle Berry won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Monster’s Ball, the New England Patriots won their first Super Bowl, and the “Rally Monkey” became famous, leading the then Anaheim Angels to the World Series title.

In that season, the Toronto Blue Jays finished 78-84 under manager Buck Martinez, and Eric Hinske won the AL Rookie of the Year Award. The former third baseman and outfielder hit 24 home runs, scored 99 times, knocked in 84 runs, and stole 13 bases. 

It’s hard to believe that Hinske was the last Blue Jay to win the Rookie of the Year Award, but the team hasn’t had many standout rookie performances since then. The only one that was worthy of consideration for the award was Marcus Stroman’s 2014 season, when he had a record of 11-6, a 3.65 ERA, and struck out 111 batters. 

The wait may be over this season as the Blue Jays have the top two favorites for the award with Trey Yesavage and Kazuma Okamoto. Yesavage has +370 odds, and Okamoto has +500 odds. During the end of last season, Yesavage started three games, where he posted a 3.21 ERA and had a 16:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In the postseason, he came up clutch in big games. In Game 2 of the ALCS, he helped the Blue Jays take a 2-0 series lead. The rookie threw 5 1/3 innings against the New York Yankees, striking out 11 batters. 

In Game 6 of the ALDS, Yesavage helped the Blue Jays even the series 3-3 after throwing 5 2/3 strong innings while striking out seven Seattle Mariners batters. In Game 5 of the World Series, he got the win to give the team a 3-2 series lead, but we all know how that ended. In the game, he threw seven innings and struck out 12 Los Angeles Dodgers hitters. This success is why the righty is the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year Award going into the season, but it'll be interesting to watch how the Blue Jays handle Yesavage's workload throughout the season. 

Yesavage’s teammate, Okamoto, also has a strong case to claim the award. He will be making his first season in America and in MLB. While in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan, Okamoto hit at least 25 home runs in seven straight seasons before an elbow injury broke that streak last season. Though he was on a good pace to extend the streak with 15 homers halfway through the season. 

Yesavage and Okamoto have stiff competition for the award, though. Kevin McGonigle (Detroit Tigers) has +550 odds, Carter Jensen (Kansas City Royals) has +600 odds, Munetaka Murakami (Chicago White Sox) has +800 odds, and Tatsuya Imai (Houston Astros) has +850 odds. 

This may be the season the Blue Jays finally win the AL Rookie of the Year Award since 2002. With the two leading favorites on the team, it’s the best chance the team has had in a while. It won’t come easy, though, with McGonigle and Jensen heavily hyped, and two other Japanese players (Murakami and Imai) making their first appearances overseas.

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