Baseball is so close that we can almost taste it. The Tokyo Series is upon us and Opening Day is not far away. There is so much to be excited about and to look forward to and the fun part is making predictions! We are starting an award series, with CY Young being the first one and the next is the Rookie of the Year.

AL Rookie of the Year: Jackson Jobe (Tigers)

Do not sleep on the Tigers rotation. They have reigning CY Young winner Tarik Skubal. Also brought in Jack Flaherty and have Casey Mize on the mound. The pitcher for them that will also win AL rookie of the year is none other than Jackson Jobe.

Jobe is one of the top prospects in the Tigers number one ranked farm system. He only made two starts at the big league level last season, but is on track to be part of what’s a deep rotation in 2025.

The velocity is way up for Jobe in Spring Training and oh my it’s scary. Jobe has touched 102 MPH this spring and also has mixed in a filthy sweeper that hit 97 MPH. He is averaging 5.19 K/9 and has a 16.1 K% in 8.2 innings of work.

Jackson Jobe, 101 mph, 102 mph and 101 mph. 😳 pic.twitter.com/kGG3fDwPvp

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 12, 2024

There is a lot of strong choices to pick from in the AL, but Jobe takes the cake for me.

NL Rookie of the Year: Roki Sasaki (Dodgers)

Is this really a surprise? One of the most sought out pitchers this winter once he was posted landed with the Dodgers to no surprise. Roki Sasaki is an absolute phenom and there’s plenty of reason to love his game.

Over in Japan, Sasaki has a career 2.02 ERA spanning across four seasons. Crazy enough, he’s walked 91 batters in those four years, showing how great his command is. Sasaki is a strikeout machine, averaging 11.4 K/9 for his career. Now, the star pitcher looks to make a name for himself in his rookie season.

Sasaki has quite the repertoire for his pitching arsenal. He will blow a 100 MPH fastball by you, and also adds a mean slider to the mix. One thing I will be monitoring is how well his splitter does against opposing batters.

Rōki Sasaki, Two Splitters, Two Different Breaks.

1. 7″ of Arm Side Run
2. 8″ of Glove Side Break

15 inches difference on the same pitch type. pic.twitter.com/QxrxoE95PS

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 12, 2025

Sasaki has a mean splitter. He has thrown it quite a bit this Spring and oh boy does it look nasty. The amount of break he has on this pitch is absurd and batters are going to have a tough time.

Sasaki is going to be a gem to watch and is going to win this year because of it.

Up Next: MVP