Angels 'Shohei Ohtani Yankees beats' duo to win AL Rookie of the Year

Shohei Ohtani became the fourth Japanese-born player to win Rookie of the Year, Los Angeles Angels' two-way sensation beat New York Yankees duo Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres to the American League award.

Ohtani earned 25 of 30 first-place votes Andujar, who finished as runner-up.

"Oh, this is a special story," Ohtani told MLB Network through a translator. "Especially, I think it's a whole lot of people, so I'm really grateful."

Ohtani joins Hideo Nomo (1995), Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) as Japanese players to be honored after his debut year in Major League Baseball. The Angels Suzuki did it 17 years ago.

"(Suzuki) is someone who (Ohtani) watched" said Ohtani's translator, "Ippei Mizuhara.

The Angels had high hopes both for Ohtani's and his pitching arm, and the 24-year-old lived up to the hype in his first season with the Angels, hitting .285 with 22 home runs and a .564 slugging percentage that would have Ranked fourth in the AL if he'd had enough platform appearances to qualify for the leaderboards.

In 51.2 innings over 10 starts, he went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts, flashing the ace-caliber stuff that had the teams to the front.

The bat was more impressive than anticipated, however, and Ohtani joined Babe Ruth as at least 20 home runs and pitch at least 50 innings in the same season. Ruth did that in 1919 – his last season as a pitcher, as the Red Sox sold him to the Yankees that offseason and he became a full-time outfielder in 1920.

Ohtani will also serve as a full-time hitter in 2019, as he underwent Tommy John's surgery. The surgery will likely prevent him from pitching in 2019, but he should still see the Angels' designated hitter, though he may not be ready at the start of the season.

Ohtani, a phenomenon in Japan for the Nippon Ham Fighters, had been the subject of an intense recruiting campaign. While he had pitched just 25 innings in 2017 because of an ankle injury, in 2016 he had a 1.86 ERA in 140 innings and hit .322 with 22 home runs. Because he was under 25 years old, Ohtani was subject to international signing rules, which capped his $ 3,557 million bonus and limited him to a rookie salary scale (the signing team would also have to pay a $ 20 million posting fee to the Fighters).

That really meant all 30 teams could afford to go after Ohtani; if he'd waited until he was 25 to come over, he would have ordered a $ 200 million contract. Ohtani narrowed his finalists to the Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Mariners, Rangers and Cubs, signing with the Angels for a $ 2.315 million bonus.

Ohtani struggled in spring training, both at the flat and throwing strikes while pitching, but he made an immediate impression in the regular season. He beat the A in his first start on April 1, allowing three runs in six innings. Pitched against the A's again in his second start, he has just been hit with seven strikeouts.

Meanwhile, after going 1-for-5 in his first game at DH, he then became the biggest story in the game.

His first career has been a huge success with Angels fans gave him a huge ovation, but his teammates were happy with him. As he happily looked for somebody to celebrate with, he finally grabbed Ian Kinsler before his teammates mobbed him.