NL Rookie of the Year: Florida Marlins' Chris Coghlan

Chris Coghlan Florida Marlins NL Rookie of the Year

The National League featured a strong class of rookies in 2009, and although Florida left fielder Chris Coghlan didn't get called up until May 8, he impressed enough to win the Rookie of the Year award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Coghlan wasn't named on seven of the 32 ballots (which included three players each) but had 17 first-place votes to 10 for Philadelphia left-hander J.A. Happ.

Atlanta right-hander Tommy Hanson was third in the voting, with Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen fourth.

Upon his promotion to the majors, Coghlan was inserted as the Marlins' left fielder, and three weeks later he became the team's leadoff man -- two roles he had never been asked to do. But it never stopped him from hitting, and Florida went 67-54 in his starts.

How They Voted
Voting for 2009 NL Rookie of the Year (5 points for a first-place vote, 3 for second, 1 for third):
Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Coghlan, Marlins	17	6	2	105
Happ, Phillies	10	11	11	94
Hanson, Braves	2	6	9	37
McCutchen, Pirates	2	5		25
McGehee, Brewers	1	3	4	18
Wells, Cubs		1		3
G.Jones, Pirates			2	2
E.Cabrera, Padres			1	1
Fowler, Rockies			1	1
G.Parra, D-Backs			1	1
Rasmus, Cardinals			1	1

"You never know until you live with a guy what kind of guy he is," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said in September. "I tell you what, he's off the charts. You see him day in, day out -- you see the character, you see the work habits, you see the grit.

"You label certain guys as 'baseball players.' And he's one of those guys. And if next spring training you said, 'Hey we need you to maybe catch,' he'd say, 'OK, let's go.' "

Coghlan, 24, batted .321 -- best by a rookie since Albert Pujols in 2001. And Coghlan had 113 hits after the All-Star break, easily the most in the majors (Derek Jeter has 102) and most by anyone since 2004.

He led the majors in hits in September with 47, most by a rookie in September since 1928. He also had the most August hits by a rookie (47) since 1954. And no NL player had 94 hits over a two-month span since Dave Parker in 1978.

Coghlan led NL rookies in runs (84), total bases (232), doubles (31) and on-base percentage (.390).

Happ went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA and two shutouts in 35 games (23) starts for the Phillies. He tied for third in the NL with three complete games.

In 21 starts for the Braves, Hanson was 11-4 with a 2.98 ERA and .225 average allowed.

More coverage: Oakland's Bailey Wins AL Award

McCutchen hit .286 with 12 homers, 54 RBI, 74 runs scored and a .471 slugging percentage after being called up when the Pirates traded Nate McLouth to the Braves in early June.

In all, 11 rookies earned at least one point in the 5-3-1 voting system.

Coghlan is the third Florida player to be named Rookie of the Year, after Dontrelle Willis in 2003 and Hanley Ramirez in 2006.