Congrats to Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto! Soto batted .285 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs in his first full season and was named NL Rookie of the Year. Soto, 25, is the first catcher to win the league honor since Mike Piazza did so 15 years ago.
He is the first Cubs player to win the award since Kerry Wood did his rookie season in 1998.Soto led all Major League rookies in RBIs and did a great job handling the pitching staff, which finished with the third-lowest ERA in the NL.
Soto was the first rookie catcher to start in an All-Star Game, doing so at Yankee Stadium in July. He won NL Rookie of the Month honors twice, in April and August. On Sept. 14, he was behind the plate for Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter.
On Sept. 18, Soto delivered a game-tying, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth that forced extra innings against Milwaukee. The Cubs rallied to win, 7-6, on Derrek Lee's RBI single in the 12th. That was Soto's 23rd and last homer of the season, the most by a Cubs rookie catcher and most for any Cubs rookie since Billy Williams hit 25 in 1961.
He is the first rookie catcher to hit at least 30 doubles and 20 homers in a single season, Soto's .504 slugging percentage ranked second among Major League catchers, trailing only Atlanta's Brian McCann.
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I picked Soto right from the start. I also picked Evan Longoria for the AL, I'm 2-2.
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