MLB Rookie of the Year Winners (Recent List)
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The MLB Rookie of the Year is awarded every season to the best first-year player in each league. In 2024, Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates took the National League honor and Luis Gil of the New York Yankees took the American League one, the first time in over 40 years that both winners were starting pitchers.
The trophy carries more history than most. It is officially the Jackie Robinson Award, named after the player who won the inaugural Rookie of the Year in 1947, the same season he broke baseball’s color barrier. Every winner since is linked to that first one by name.
Recent MLB Rookie of the Year winners
The table below lists the winners in both leagues over recent seasons, current through the 2024 awards.
| Year | NL Rookie of the Year | AL Rookie of the Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Paul Skenes (Pirates) | Luis Gil (Yankees) |
| 2023 | Corbin Carroll (Diamondbacks) | Gunnar Henderson (Orioles) |
| 2022 | Michael Harris II (Braves) | Julio Rodriguez (Mariners) |
| 2021 | Jonathan India (Reds) | Randy Arozarena (Rays) |
| 2020 | Devin Williams (Brewers) | Kyle Lewis (Mariners) |
| 2019 | Pete Alonso (Mets) | Yordan Alvarez (Astros) |
The list is a preview of the sport’s next wave of stars. Several recent winners, from Julio Rodriguez to Corbin Carroll, have already become franchise cornerstones and All-Stars within a season or two of taking the award.
How the award works
Voting is handled by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, with a panel in each league casting ranked ballots at the end of the regular season. Each voter names a first, second, and third choice, and the results are tallied on a points system, so a player can win comfortably without every first-place vote or run away with a unanimous sweep.
To be eligible, a player must still hold rookie status, which ends once he passes 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched, or 45 days on an active roster outside September. Those thresholds keep the award for true newcomers rather than veterans who logged a brief earlier stint. It is why a highly touted prospect who debuts late one year can still win it the next.
The Skenes and Gil year
The 2024 awards stood out because both went to starting pitchers, something that had not happened in the same season since 1981. Paul Skenes debuted in May and posted one of the lowest ERAs by a rookie starter in the live-ball era, a dominant half-season that left little doubt in the NL. Luis Gil won 15 games for the Yankees, filling a rotation gap and beating out several position players in the AL vote.
Pitchers winning both awards is rare because voters often favor everyday players who contribute across a full season. When two first-year starters take both trophies at once, it signals a strong crop of young arms, and it put Skenes in particular on the short list of the game’s most exciting new talents.
Why the Jackie Robinson name matters
Renaming the trophy in 1987 was more than a tribute. It fixed Robinson’s place at the front of a line every future winner joins, connecting a modern rookie’s best season to the player who changed the sport in 1947. For a young player, hearing the award called the Jackie Robinson Award ties an individual honor to something much larger than one year of good baseball.
For the basketball equivalent and its own recent winners, see the NBA Rookie of the Year winners. To see which of these rookies grew into perennial award contenders, our list of the most MVP awards in MLB history tracks the leap from newcomer to superstar. And to test your own eye for a breakout roster, try our daily baseball puzzle, 162-0.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2024 MLB Rookie of the Year?+
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates won the National League award and Luis Gil of the New York Yankees won the American League award. Both are pitchers, the first time since Fernando Valenzuela and Dave Righetti in 1981 that both winners were starting pitchers in the same year.
Is the Rookie of the Year named after Jackie Robinson?+
Yes. In 1987, the 40th anniversary of his debut, MLB renamed the trophy the Jackie Robinson Award. Robinson won the very first Rookie of the Year in 1947, when a single award covered both leagues, so naming it after him ties the honor directly to its origin.
Who was the first MLB Rookie of the Year?+
Jackie Robinson, in 1947, when one award was given for all of Major League Baseball. The award split into separate American and National League honors starting in 1949, which is the format still used today. Robinson's win came in the season he broke baseball's color barrier.
Has a player ever won Rookie of the Year and MVP the same season?+
Yes, twice. Fred Lynn did it in 1975 and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001, both in the American League. Winning both in one year is extraordinarily rare because it means a rookie was not just the best newcomer but the best player in the entire league that season.
What makes a player count as a rookie?+
A player keeps rookie status until he exceeds set thresholds: 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the majors, or 45 days on an active roster outside of September call-ups. Those limits stop established players from qualifying after brief earlier stints, keeping the award for genuine first-year contributors.
Can the award be won unanimously?+
Yes, and it happens fairly often when a rookie clearly outshines the field. Voters, a panel of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, each rank their top three, and a runaway winner can collect every first-place vote. A unanimous result signals a season without any real debate.
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