Tigers’ Michael Fulmer Wins BBWAA AL Rookie Of The Year

Michael Fulmer, acquired from the Mets for Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline in 2015, won the AL Rookie of the Year Award from the Baseball Writers Association of America on Monday.

Name, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Michael Fulmer, Tigers	26	4		142
Gary Sanchez, Yankees	4	23	2	91
Tyler Naquin, Indians		2	14	20
Chris Devenski, Astros		1	4	7
Edwin Diaz, Mariners			4	4
Nomar Mazara, Rangers			4	4
Tim Anderson, White Sox			2	2

The Tigers’ top prospect entering the season, Fulmer was 11-7, 3.06, and struck out 132 batters in 156 innings. Fulmer received 26 of 30 first-place votes, with Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez getting the other four first-place votes.

“It’s an honor and a blessing for sure,” Fulmer said on MLB Network. “I want to thank God for the ability to do what I do, and I want to congratuate Tyler (Naquin) and Gary (Sanchez) for their seasons and I look forward to playing against them for years to come.”

Fulmer is the fifth Tigers play to win the AL Rookie award. The others were Harvey Kuenn in 1953, Mark Fidrych in 1976, Lou Whitaker in 1978 and Justin Verlander in 2006.

Fulmer gave Verlander some of the credit for his terrific rookie campaign.

“It was awesome,” Fulmer said of meeting Verlander. “Back in spring training, I was nervous to come up to him—he’s one of my favorite pitchers in the game. But he brought me back to his rookie year and told me everything he wished he had done. He helped me with my shoulder program . . . he was an open book this year.”

Fulmer was a member of our All-Rookie team. He paired his 95 mph fastball with a plus-plus slider and the biggest developmental touch for Fulmer this season came when he loosened the grip on his changeup and began locating it low in the zone, and the pitch now plays as plus.

Fulmer said he learned the changeup in 2012 from Mets minor league pitching coordinator Ron Romanick, the former major league righthander. Fulmer said he uses a “Vulcan grip,” using three fingers across the seams to throw it.

The 6-foot-3 righthander said he couldn’t help but notice what Cespedes did for the Mets as he led them to the World Series in 2015.

“After the trade . . . seeing some of the guys I knew in the World Series, that was something cool to see,” he said. “(But) I didn’t feel (extra pressure). I was kind of surprised I got called up so quick. But after I threw that first pitch on April 29 (against the Twins) I trusted my catchers and teammates.”

HOW THEY VOTED
Name	Affiliation	1st	2nd	3rd
Eddie Matz	ESPN.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Devenski
Brittany Ghiroli	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Diaz
Evan Drellich	Boston Herald	Fulmer	Sanchez	Devenski
Scott Lauber	ESPN.com	Sanchez	Fulmer	Naquin
Scott Merkin	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Diaz
Bruce Levine	cbschicgo.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Diaz
Tom Withers	Associated Press	Fulmer	Sanchez	Mazara
Anthony Castrovince	MLB.com	Sanchez	Fulmer	Naquin
Noah Trister	The Associated Press	Fulmer	Sanchez	Devenski
George Sipple	Detroit Free Press	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Kristie Rieken	The Associated Press	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Alyson Footer	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Joe Posnanski	NBC Sports	Sanchez	Fulmer	Anderson
David Brown	VICE Sports	Fulmer	Sanchez	Anderson
Greg Beacham	Associated Press	Fulmer	Sanchez	Mazara
Brian Golden	Antelope Valley Press	Sanchez	Fulmer	Devenski
Patrick Borzi	At Large	Fulmer	Sanchez	Mazara
Dave Campbell	Associated Press	Fulmer	Devenski	Sanchez
Erik Boland	Newsday	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Bryan Hoch	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Matt Kawahara	The Sacramento Bee	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Jane Lee	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Greg Johns	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Diaz
Jeff Sullivan	FanGraphs	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Marc Topkin	Tampa Bay Times	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Roger Mooney	Tampa Bay Times	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Kevin Sherrington	Dallas Morning News	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Stefan Stevenson	Fort Worth Star-Telegram	Fulmer	Naquin	Mazara
Gregor Chisholm	MLB.com	Fulmer	Sanchez	Naquin
Scott MacArthur	TSN.ca	Fulmer	Naquin	Sanchez