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Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley narrowly missed out on the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year, falling seven points short of winner Bryce Harper.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old Miley had a fantastic year, but just happened to have the misfortune of debuting the same time Harper did. Miley threw 194 innings over the course of the year, striking out 144 and posting a 3.33 ERA. He posted a 1.18 WHIP and had a WAR of 3.2 according to Baseball-Reference.
The Diamondbacks drafted Miley in the first round of the 2008 amateur draft. He wasn't expected to break camp with the team, but an injury to Takashi Saito forced manager Kirk Gibson to call on Miley early.
Miley's 16 victories were the most by an NL rookie since the Rockies' Jason Jennings in 2002. He led all NL rookie pitchers in quality starts. Any other year, he had the line to win Rookie of the Year.
But uber-prospect Harper lived up to much of his hype, as he hit .270/.340/.477 with 22 homeruns, all at the tender age of 19.
In a statement released by the Diamondbacks, Miley was gracious and humble in his defeat.
"I would like to congratulate both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper on winning the Rookie of the Year awards," Miley said. "I am very honored to be mentioned for such a prestigious award and cannot thank my teammates and coaches enough for putting me in position to succeed every time I went to the mound."
Here is a full list of the voting breakdown:
Name, Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Points |
Bryce Harper, Nationals |
16 |
8 |
8 |
112 |
Wade Miley, Diamondbacks |
12 |
13 |
6 |
105 |
Todd Frazier, Reds |
3 |
7 |
9 |
45 |
Wilin Rosario, Rockies |
1 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
Norichika Aoki, Brewers |
2 |
5 |
11 |
|
Yonder Alonzo, Padres |
1 |
1 |
||
Matt Carpenter, Cardinals |
1 |
1 |
||
Jordan Pachecho, Rockies |
1 | 1 |