DETROIT – Nicholas Castellanos has been selected the Tiger of the Year in voting conducted by the Detroit Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Castellanos earned 19 of a possible 20 first place votes to capture the award for the first time in his career. Joe Jiménez received the other first place vote.
Castellanos, 26, finished the 2018 season hitting .298/.354/.500 with 88 runs scored, 46 doubles, five triples, 23 home runs, 89 RBI and 49 walks in 157 games. He established career highs in hits (185), runs scored, doubles and walks.
He finished the season ranked third in the American League with 185 hits and 56 multi-hit games, while he was fourth with 46 doubles and 10 outfield assists, eighth with 310 total bases and 74 extra-base hits and ninth with a .298 batting average. Castellanos ranked second in the Majors with 19 games of three-or-more hits and led the Majors with a .381 (56×147) batting average vs. lefthanded pitchers, while he was seventh with a .432 on-base percentage.
Castellanos finished the season with 23 home runs and 46 doubles, becoming the eighth player in franchise history to have 20-or-more homers and 40-or-more doubles in a season.
In six seasons with the Tigers, Castellanos has hit .274/.323/.459 with 308 runs scored, 171 doubles, 29 triples, 93 home runs and 387 RBI in 737 games.
Recipients of the Tiger of the Year Award
1965 – Don Wert
1966 – Al Kaline
1967 – Bill Freehan
1968 – Denny McLain
1969 – Denny McLain
1970 – Tom Timmerman
1971 – Mickey Lolich
1972 – Ed Brinkman
1973 – John Hiller
1974 – Al Kaline
1975 – Willie Horton
1976 – Mark Fidrych
1977 – Ron LeFlore
1978 – Ron LeFlore
1979 – Steve Kemp
1980 – Alan Trammell
1981 – Kirk Gibson
1982 – Lance Parrish
1983 – Lou Whitaker
1984 – Willie Hernandez
1985 – Darrell Evans
1986 – Jack Morris
1987 – Alan Trammell
1988 – Alan Trammell
1989 – Lou Whitaker
1990 – Cecil Fielder
1991 – Cecil Fielder
1992 – Cecil Fielder
1993 – Tony Phillips
1994 – Kirk Gibson
1995 – Travis Fryman
1996 – Travis Fryman
1997 – Tony Clark and Bobby Higginson (tie)
1998 – Damion Easley
1999 – Dean Palmer
2000 – Bobby Higginson
2001 – Steve Sparks
2002 – Randall Simon
2003 – Dmitri Young
2004 – Ivan Rodriguez
2005 – Placido Polanco
2006 – Carlos Guillen
2007 – Magglio Ordoñez
2008 – Miguel Cabrera
2009 – Justin Verlander
2010 – Miguel Cabrera
2011 – Justin Verlander
2012 – Miguel Cabrera
2013 – Miguel Cabrera
2014 – Victor Martinez
2015 – J.D. Martinez
2016 – Justin Verlander
2017 – Justin Upton
2018 – Nicholas Castellanos
