Ohtani Beats Andujar For AL Rookie Of The Year: Social Media Reacts

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani was named American League Rookie of the Year on Monday, beating New York Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar in the process.

Ohtani received 25 of the 30 first-place votes cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America with Andujar receiving the other five first-place votes. Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres finished third in the voting.

As a result, the 24-year-old became the fourth Japanese-born player after Hideo Nomo (1995), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) to win Rookie of the Year as he reflected on winning the award.

"Accomplishing something this special my first year means a whole lot to me," Ohtani told MLB Network through a translator, as quoted on ESPN. "Especially, I think it means a whole lot for people that have been supporting me this whole time, so I'm really grateful."

"[Suzuki] is someone that [Ohtani] watched ever since he was a little kid and always looked up to until this day," Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara added.

Although many felt Ohtani would win the award because of his contributions as a pitcher and hitter, others felt Andujar was the one who deserved the accolade.

Ohtani was named AL Rookie of the Month in April and September and finished his debut season for the Angels with 22 home runs, 61 RBIs and a slashline of .285/.361/.564. In addition, he had a 3.31 ERA ball with 11.0 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in his 10 starts.

However, the two-way player wasn't able to pitch a full season after a UCL tear in his right elbow. He also underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of the season.

Andujar, on the other hand, filled in for the injured Aaron Judge and completed his first season with 27 home runs, 92 RBIs, 47 doubles and a slashline of .297/.328/.527.

The Dominican's 47 doubles were a notable franchise rookie record while he also led all rookies in doubles, hits (170), extra-base hits (76) and multi-hit games (53). He was also named AL Rookie of the Month for June and August.

And so, fans took to social media to express how Andujar should have won the award, albeit many of them were Yankees fans.

Still, some felt Ohtani was deserving of the award despite his absence from the field and had met his huge expectations.

The Oshu native was part of a huge recruiting campaign when he was with the Nippon Ham Fighters and because he was younger than 25, all 30 MLB teams could afford to go after him as under international signing rules, his bonus was to be capped at $3.557 million while his contract was limited to a rookie salary scale.

In the end, he rejected the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs to sign with the Angels for a $2.315 million bonus.

He notably joined Babe Ruth as the only players to hit at least 20 home runs and pitch at least 50 innings in the same season. Due to undergoing Tommy John surgery, however, Ohtani is expected to serve as a full-time hitter in 2019.