Time for my annual acquisition of participation points by creating separate team news articles handing out four separate individual awards to our top players in 2042. Those four awards are: Top Rookie, Top Reliever, Top Hitter, and Top Starting Pitcher. Let's begin with top rookie.
The top rookie award is a pretty easy one to hand out in 2042 for two main reasons. Reason one, we only had one rookie. Reason two, that rookie led the team in WAR in 2042 and is also going to claim some Frick League hardware this season as well.
Miguel Cortez got the call up this season after the front office traded away Brandon Howeth Arneson, Jr. this off-season to Long Beach. In fact, the club traded BHA Jr because the front office felt Cortez was better and was ready for the spot. Cortez proved us right! As mentioned, his 3.3 WAR was a season best for the Lumberjacks. Not only was it a season best, but it also set the franchise record for WAR in a single season (yeah, it's been a rough 3 seasons in Portland). A large portion of the WAR was created by Cortez's stellar defensive play in centerfield that will win him the Diamond Glove honor for the Frick League this season. His +19.2 zone rating was the best in the entire league in 2042. Cortez played all 162 games for the Lumberjacks in CF, committing only 4 errors in 606 total chances. He also threw out 27 base runners as well.
While known as a glove man first, Cortez hit well enough to be a serviceable bat as well. He hit .258/.337/.390 with 9 homeruns and 58 runs batted in. He was tied for second on the team in hits with 152 on the season and was 3rd in runs scored with 77 despite batting in the bottom 3rd of the lineup most of the season. His 22 stolen bases were also tied for the team lead.
