For the second time in three years, a former Florida Gator has won the Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year Award. Second baseman Jonathan India received 29 of 30 first-place votes and became the eighth Cincinnati Red to take home the award.
India led all rookies with 98 runs, 34 doubles, 57 extra-base hits, a .376 on-base percentage and a .835 OPS. He also led NL rookies with 69 RBI, 143 hits, 21 home runs and 12 stolen bases. He became the frontrunner for the award in the second half of the season when Miami pitcher Trevor Rogers took time away from baseball to tend to a family emergency. St. Louis’ Dylan Carlson came in third place but he failed to steal a single vote from India.
Although the Reds came up short of the playoffs, Cincinnati finished third in the wild card race. After securing his Rookie of the Year Award, India will look to help the Reds take that next step forward in 2022 and make the playoffs with him as an established starter.
The đ¨đ§đĽđ˛ college program to have two ROY winners in a three-year span.@JonathanIndia is your 2021 National League Rookie of the Year! đ pic.twitter.com/JQU7bOm4gO
— Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 15, 2021
India knows what it takes to win a championship, too. In 2017, he helped lead the Gators to their first-ever NCAA Championship. He left Florida as one of the greatest to ever wear the orange and blue on the diamond after being selected fifth overall in the draft by the Reds.
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, the last Gator to take home the NL Rookie of the Year Award, congratulated his former teammate on Instagram.
“Congratulation to my former college teammate (Jonathan India) on winning the ’21 NL ROY,” Alonso wrote. “Such an unreal honor. Many more accolades to come your way my man.”
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