Brewers right-hander Devin Williams is the seventh relief pitcher to win the NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award and the first to do so without recording a save in his winning season.
Other relievers honored were Joe Black, Butch Metzger, Steve Howe, Todd Worrell, Scott Williamson and Craig Kimbrel. There have been five relief-pitcher winners in the American League.
Williams is the third Brewers player to win the award. The others were Ryan Braun in the NL in 2007 and Pat Listach in the AL in 1992. Milwaukee shifted to the NL in 1998. The Braves did not have a Rookie of the Year winner during their 13 seasons in Milwaukee (1953-65).
This is the fourth time in NL Rookie voting that two players tied for second place. It also occurred in 1964 with Rico Carty and Jim Ray Hart, in 1969 with Coco Loboy and Al Oliver and in 1997 with Livan Hernandez and Matt Morris.
No player was named on every ballot.
Ballots, submitted prior to postseason play, were cast by two writers representing each league city. They are tabulated on a system that awards five points for first place, three points for second place, one point for third place.
2020 NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Williams, Brewers | 14 | 6 | 7 | 95 |
| Alec Bohm, Phillies | 9 | 8 | 5 | 74 |
| Jake Cronenworth, Padres | 6 | 12 | 8 | 74 |
| Tony Gonsolin, Dodgers | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Dustin May, Dodgers | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| Ke'Bryan Hayes, Pirates | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Andres Gimenez, Mets | 1 | 1 | ||
| Sixto Sanchez, Marlins | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ian Anderson, Braves | 1 | 1 |
Below is a breakdown of the 30 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each city in the National League. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.
| Name | Affiliation | Chapter | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JJ Cooper | Baseball America | ATL | Gonsolin | Williams | Bohm |
| David O'Brien | The Athletic | ATL | Williams | Bohm | Cronenworth |
| Jack Magruder | Field Level Media | AZ | Bohm | May | Williams |
| David Venn | MLB.com | AZ | Cronenworth | Bohm | Sanchez |
| Katsushi Nagao | Kyodo News | CHI | Cronenworth | Bohm | Williams |
| Eugene McIntosh | The Bigs Media | CHI | Bohm | Cronenworth | Williams |
| Hal McCoy | At Large | CIN | Williams | Bohm | Cronenworth |
| Joe Kay | The Associated Press | CIN | Cronenworth | Williams | Gonsolin |
| Manny Randhawa | MLB.com | COL | Williams | Cronenworth | Bohm |
| Kyle Newman | The Denver Post | COL | Williams | Cronenworth | May |
| Christina Kahrl | ESPN.com | LA | Williams | Hayes | Cronenworth |
| Jim Alexander | Southern California News Group | LA | Cronenworth | Williams | Gonsolin |
| Steve Wine | Associated Press | MIA | Bohm | Cronenworth | Williams |
| Manny Navarro | The Athletic | MIA | Cronenworth | Bohm | Williams |
| Tom Haudricourt | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | MIL | Bohm | Cronenworth | Williams |
| Andrew Wagner | Wisconsin State Journal | MIL | Bohm | Williams | Cronenworth |
| Deesha Thosar | NY Daily News | NY | Williams | Cronenworth | Gimenez |
| Justin Toscano | The Record/NorthJersey.com | NY | Williams | Cronenworth | Bohm |
| Jack McCaffery | Delaware County Daily Times | PHI | Bohm | Williams | Anderson |
| Scott Lauber | Philadelphia Inquirer | PHI | Williams | Bohm | Cronenworth |
| Will Graves | Associated Press | PIT | Williams | Cronenworth | Hayes |
| Dejan Kovacevic | DKPittsburghSports.com | PIT | Bohm | Gonsolin | Hayes |
| Kyle Glaser | Baseball America | SD | Bohm | May | Cronenworth |
| John Maffei | San Diego Union Tribune | SD | Bohm | Cronenworth | Williams |
| John Shea | San Francisco Chronicle | SF | Cronenworth | Williams | Bohm |
| Daniel Brown | The Athletic | SF | Williams | Cronenworth | Bohm |
| Jeff Jones | Belleville News-Democrat | STL | Williams | Cronenworth | Gonsolin |
| Benjamin Hochman | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | STL | Williams | Cronenworth | May |
| Ken Rosenthal | The Athletic | WAS | Williams | Bohm | Cronenworth |
| Gabe Lacques | USA Today | WAS | Williams | Bohm | Cronenworth |
"Biggest thing is that it was all worth it." @Brewers reliever @DTrainn_23 talked about overcoming injuries and believing in himself on his way to winning the 2020 Jackie Robinson NL Rookie of the Year Award! pic.twitter.com/RAz0RfQrnj
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 10, 2020