"If Jackson Merrill had a wildly popular influencer girlfriend, he would’ve won" - Padres fans lash out as Paul Skenes wins 2024 NL Rookie of the Year

The winners of the 2024 Rookie of the Year awards were revealed by the MLB on Monday night, with Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes winning the honor in the National League. He edged out San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill in the voting results to take the honor. Milwaukee Brewers' Jackson Chourio and Chicago Cubs' Shota Imanaga were the other finalists.

However, many fans, mostly belonging to the Padres, were not pleased to see Merrill finish as the runner-up in the results. Some felt that Skenes received undue preference due to the extra popularity he enjoys from his online celebrity girlfriend, Olivia Dunne.

Skenes was drafted by the Pirates with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut less than a year later on May 11, 2024. The right-hander made a blistering start to his major league career, ending his rookie campaign with an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts. Skenes is also a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award.

Jackson Merrill was acquired with the No. 27 overall pick by the Padres in the 2021 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in the opening game of the 2024 season and quickly sealed his spot as the first-choice centerfielder of the team. Merrill played 156 games during the regular season and batted .292/.326/.500 with .826 OPS, 24 home runs, 90 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

Some Padres fans feel Merrill deserved more credit for having the greater volume of games, while others believed Skenes was the more popular choice among voters for having a famous girlfriend.

"Merrill robbed," posted one fan on X/Twitter.

"If Merrill had a wildly popular influencer girlfriend, he would’ve won," commented another fan.

"Can't get in the way of a good storyline of a 1st overall pick with the famous girlfriend, 450k more IG followers," another fan added.

Here are some more reactions from fans on X:

"Merrill was snubbed," one fan said.

"I didn’t know this was a popularity contest," another fan wrote.

"Can we ask for a review on that bad call?" asked a fan.

In the final results, Skenes earned 23 first place votes out of 30, while earning the remaining seven votes for second place to give him a total of 136 points. On the other hand, Merrill bagged seven first place votes and 23 second place votes to finish on 104 points.

Looking back at Paul Skenes' historic rookie campaign

Paul Skenes is a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award as well (Image Source: IMAGN)

Although he arrived at "The Show" with tremendous hype, Paul Skenes lived up to the billing in his maiden MLB season. He became only the fifth rookie pitcher to start an All-Star game, and the first since 1995 (Hideo Nomo). He also became the only starting pitcher to record at least 170 strikeouts along with a sub-2.00 ERA in his rookie year.

Furthermore, Skenes is only the second Pittsburgh Pirates player to be named Rookie of the Year after Jason Bay won it in 2005 and the fifth No. 1 overall pick to win the award after Bob Hoerner (1978), Daryl Strawberry (1983), Bryce Harper (2012) and Carlos Correa (2015).

Do you think Paul Skenes deserved to win the NL Rookie of the Year award? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.