Vlad Jr. wins the 1st Juan Marichal Prize

With 97 out of 100 possible first-place votes, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. became the first winner of the Juan Marichal Award, which is given to the best-performing Dominican player in the Major League season.

The Toronto Blue Jays slugger also received three votes for second place for a total of 594 points, beating Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres) and Juan Soto (Washington Nationals) by a comfortable margin, who avoided Guerrero’s unanimity. Jr. and finished with 326 and 305 units, respectively.

Rafael Devers (Boston Red Sox) and Teóscar Hernández (Toronto Blue Jays) completed the Top 5 of this first edition of the award, receiving votes from a total of 15 players from the 44 eligible Dominican players by the 100 journalists and journalists who cover the Major League Baseball season.

According to the conditions of the distinction, all those Dominican pitchers who have acted in a minimum of 100 innings, when it comes to starting pitchers, and 30 percent of the calendar games of their team in the Major Leagues (48 games) are eligible. , when it comes to relievers, as well as all those position players who have acted in a minimum of 65 percent of their team’s calendar games in the Major Leagues (105 games).

Guerrero Jr., 22, was the leader in the majors in home runs with 48, tied with Salvador Pérez. For much of the season he was fighting for the Triple Crown, but finished third in average, with .311, and fifth in RBIs, with 111. In addition, he was the leader in runs (123), in on-base percentage (.401) and in slugging (.601), and finished second in hits (188) and sixth in walks (86)

“I want to congratulate you on that great year you had at the Major League level with Toronto. It was a season to remember ”, highlighted Juan Marichal himself. “At the same time, I want to congratulate you for having obtained the Juan Marichal Prize. For me it is a pride to send this great message to that great player ”.

“I am very proud to be recognizing how you put the name of our country high,” added the first Dominican in the Hall of Fame. “I congratulate you and we will soon see you in the Dominican Republic to personally present that award you just won.”