Guerrero, Semien, Ray and Manoah Win 2021 BBWAA Toronto Awards

The Toronto Chapter of the Baseball Writer's Association of America announced its annual Blue Jays awards on Tuesday.

Capping off a season of individual accomplishments and honors, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien, Alek Manoah, and Robbie Ray received the Chapter's awards for 2021.

Player of the Year: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Add another one to the trophy cabinet for Guerrero Jr. Adding to a season with a Silver Slugger, All Star appearance, the Hank Aaron Award, and second in AL MVP voting, Guerrero was named a near-unanimous recipient of Toronto's Player of the Year honor.

Guerrero led the 2021 Blue Jays in OPS, SLG, OBPBA, home runs, and runs. He finished second behind Marcus Semien in Blue Jays bWAR, with the second baseman receiving the only first-place vote not cast for Guerrero.

Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernández also received top-three votes for Toronto's Player of the Year.

Pitcher of the Year: Robbie Ray

Winner of the 2021 American League Cy Young Award, Ray was the unanimous winner of the Toronto BBWAA's Pitcher of the Year.

Ray led the team in innings pitched, posted the lowest ERA among starters, the second-lowest WHIP among all qualified pitchers, and registered 104 more strikeouts for the Jays than any other arm.

Manoah and Jordan Romano finished second and third in Pitcher of the Year voting, respectively, with Steven Matz, Hyun Jin Ryu, and Tim Mayza also receiving top-three votes.

Rookie of the Year: Alek Manoah

Another unanimous winner, Manoah needed just 20 starts to earn Toronto's Rookie of the Year award. With a 3.22 ERA and 127 strikeouts, the 23-year-old beat out Alejandro Kirk, Tayler Saucedo, Kevin Smith, and Josh Palacios for top rookie honors.

Manoah received two third-place votes for 2021 AL Rookie of the Year award earlier this offseason, finishing eighth in league voting.

Most Improved Player: Robbie Ray

A number of 2021 Blue Jays took massive strides forward, improving on their 2020 campaigns.

Matz brought his ERA down from 9.68 to 3.82 and Guerrero added over 200 points to his OPS. The Toronto Chapter winner of the Most Improved Player, however, was starting pitcher Ray, who went from leading the league in walks in ’20 to winning the Cy in ’21.

Owning a 6.62 ERA in 2020 with the Jays and Diamondbacks, Ray lead the AL in the statistic with 2.84 this season. He improved in every relevant rate statistic and posted the most innings pitched and strikeouts in his career.

Guerrero and Tim Mayza also received first-place votes for MIP.

John Cerutti Award: Marcus Semien

Awarded to the person associated with day-to-day workings of Blue Jays baseball who displays goodwill, cooperation, and character, the 2021 Cerutti Award was given to Semien. In his lone season with the Blue Jays, Semien had a clear impact on teammates, fans, and anyone regularly around the Blue Jays.