Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Players Robbed of NL Rookie of the Year

PITTSBURGH - AUGUST 9: Outfielder Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates bats during a Major League Baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on August 9, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 7-3. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - AUGUST 9: Outfielder Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates bats during a Major League Baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on August 9, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 7-3. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates leads off of second base against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on September 14, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates leads off of second base against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on September 14, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Andrew McCutchen

The 2009 National League Rookie of the Year voting is an example of how classical stats can mess up voting, and snub deserving players of the title of Rookie of the Year, MVP, Cy Young, and so on.

In 2009, Andrew McCutchen had a fantastic rookie campaign. Through 493 plate appearances, the long time Pirate center fielder established himself with a .286/.365/.472 line, 26 doubles and a dozen home runs. He also had a 121 OPS+ and 122 wRC+. Though Cutch did not  put up great defensive numbers in his first season, it’s not like he was a huge negative either in center. Still, McCutchen led all rookies in fWAR at 3.4, fifth in wRC+ (min. 300 plate appearances), was 6th in base running runs above average (4.6), and wOBA (.363).

McCutchen was snubbed by Chris Coghlan. Before he became hated by most fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015, he was a top prospect for the Florida Marlins. Now by no means was Coghlan a bad hitter.

He hit .321/.390/.460 with a .374 wOBA, 122 OPS+ and 127 wRC+. But it’s not like Coghlan was overall that much better than Cutch. Cutch was not a gold glover, but Coghlan was awful defensively with -19 DRS, -6.8 UZR, -3.9 range runs above average, and -2.1 arm runs above average. Coghlan also had a 2.7 fWAR in comparison as well. This is all shown in their fWAR with Coghlan turning in a 2.7 mark and Cutch with his 3.4 mark.