A much deserved and none too surprising: Anibal Sanchez took home the NL Rookie of the Month honors.
Sanchez was 5-1 with a 1.88 ERA in six September starts, and his lone defeat came in a complete game, 2-1 loss on Sept. 16, when he was outdueled by Atlanta veteran John Smoltz. Sanchez led all rookies with 43 innings pitched and two complete games in the month, and his five September wins tied Houston's Roy Oswalt for the most of any National League pitcher in the month.
None of the 22-year-old Venezuelan's September starts was more impressive, however, than his outing against the Diamondbacks on Sept. 6. Sanchez threw the only no-hitter of the 2006 season, and the first in the Majors since Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18, 2004.
A richly deserved honor. Sanchez was outstanding down the stretch - allowing only 30 hits in 43 innings with opponents only able to log a .194 batting average against him. The no-hitter probably didn't hurt his chances either.
Anibal wasn't the only Marlin to receive votes for the award. In fact, Hanley Ramirez finished second in the balloting.
Congratulations Anibal!
This is an unbelievable crop of rookies. Yes, I like state to the obvious