Mariners Kyle Lewis has won the MLB Players Association AL Outstanding Rookie award for 2020. Hear what the game’s stars had to say about Lewis’ outstanding rookie year.
Kyle Lewis has won yet another rookie of the year award as the MLBPA announced the Mariners center fielder as the most outstanding rookie in the American League for 2020. The MLBPA releases their awards every year and while Kyle waits for the big one, the BBWAA AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award, it is certainly nice to be recognized by your fellow peers as the best rookie in the league.
“I think he’s a Lebron James type of player. He can do everything.” Those were the words that Nelson Cruz had to say about Kyle Lewis, who was never a regular-season teammate of Lewis but knew him from their time in the Mariners system together.
Superstar Freddie Freeman said, “(Kyle Lewis is) a special player and he looks like a 5 tool player that is going to be a star in this game for a long, long, time.”
As for Kyle Lewis himself he had this to say about receiving the award, “It’s a huge honor for me you know to be voted for an award by your peers its extra special. The difficulties of being a rookie, being a young player on a team trying to learn, and acclimate yourself to your teammates and people on the other teams. I promise to keep working, keep getting better, and keep advancing. This is only the beginning. I just wanted to say I appreciate you guys and I’m extremely honored for this award.”
Kyle Lewis’s stats for the Marines in 2020 were outstanding for a Rookie. He finished the year with a batting line of .262/.364/.437 which adds up to an .801 OPS. His OPS+ was 126 putting him at 26% better than the average, and he had a 1.4 WAR in the shortened season along with 11 home runs.