2011 Rookie of the Year: Hirokazu Sawamura (YOM) and Kazuhisa Makita (SEI)
by Gen on Nov.30, 2011 @ 6:27 pm, under NPB
Hirokazu Sawamura (YOM) and Kazuhisa Makita (SEI) were selected as Rookies of the Year for the Central and Pacific Leagues, respectively.
A Yomiuri Giant player has now won the award four straight seasons (a first in NPB history): Tetsuya Yamaguchi (2008), Tetsuya Matsumoto (2009), Hisayoshi Chono (2010), Sawamura. Sawamura is also the first RoY winner to toss 200 or more innings since Shigeyuki Takahashi (1964) in the CL and Hideo Nomo (1990) in the PL.
Makita is the first Seibu Lion rookie since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 1999. He is also just the third RoY winner to record 20 or mores saves. The other two are Koji Mise with 28 in 2004 and Masafumi Hirai with 27 in 1995.
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Voting Results
Central League
| Player JPN | Player ENG | Team | Votes |
| 澤村 拓一 | Sawamura, Hirokazu | YOM | 235 |
| 榎田 大樹 | Enokida, Daiki | HAN | 7 |
| 久古 健太郎 | Kyuko, Kentaro | YAK | 4 |
| 藤村 大介 | Fujimura, Daisuke | YOM | 3 |
| 今村 猛 | Imamura, Takeru | HIR | 1 |
Pacific League
| Player JPN | Player ENG | Team | Votes |
| 牧田 和久 | Makita, Kazuhisa | SEI | 150 |
| 塩見 貴洋 | Shiomi, Takahiro | RAK | 43 |
| 伊志嶺 翔大 | Ishimine, Shota | LOT | 16 |
| 斎藤 佑樹 | Saito, Yuki | HAM | 3 |
| 浅村 栄斗 | Asamura, Hideto | SEI | 1 |
| 秋山 翔吾 | Akiyama, Shogo | SEI | 1 |
November 30th, 2011 on 10:14 pm
Shiomi would have been a much,much better choice. People put too much weight in saves…
November 30th, 2011 on 10:38 pm
Shiomi did have a really nice year. He went 9-9 with 4 complete games and a 2.85 ERA (1.15 WHIP) all while playing for the Rakuten Eagles.
He did struggle a little in June and September, but was otherwise effective in the rotation.