Yankees slugger Aaron Judge named American League rookie of the year

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger have been voted unanimously as baseball's Rookies of the Year after their record-setting home run binges lifted the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers into the post-season.

Judge won American League honours, becoming the first Yankees player to receive the award since Derek Jeter in 1996. Bellinger took the National League award, giving the Dodgers a record 18th Rookie of the Year winner.

The voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America was announced Monday night on MLB Network. Judge led the AL with 52 home runs, a rookie record. Bellinger hit 39 homers for an NL rookie record.

Boston outfielder Andrew Benintendi finished second in the AL vote, and St. Louis infielder Paul DeJong was the NL runner-up.

The Associated Press