MINNEAPOLIS -- Luis Arraez's batting average at age 22 was comparable to those of legendary hitters like Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Joe DiMaggio, and his plate discipline and contact ability drew comparisons to Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn from Cleveland manager Terry Francona. Arraez was recognized for those skills on Monday with a sixth-place finish in the voting for the 2019 American League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award.

The American League's award was won unanimously by Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez. Arraez, who earned five points, also trailed Orioles pitcher John Means (53), Rays infielder Brandon Lowe (27), Eloy Jiménez (20) of the White Sox and Toronto's Cavan Biggio (seven).

Arraez received one second-place vote and two third-place votes among the 30 ballots.

It was likely difficult for writers around the country to compare Arraez's value to that of his peers due to his unique skill set. As strikeouts and homers have risen to historic levels around the game, Arraez was an unabashed throwback hitter for the Twins in '19, spraying the ball all over the field as he hit .334/.399/.439 in 2019 with more walks (36) than strikeouts (29) and the fourth-best line-drive percentage in the Majors among hitters with at least 300 batted balls.

"What Luis' skill set is, I don't want to say he's unmatched in baseball since I've been in baseball, but he's near the top of the scale at some of these things," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said in September. "This is compared to some of the best players in the game. If we look at how Luis controls the zone compared to the rest of baseball, I bet he's in the 99th percentile or something pretty close to it."

• Baldelli up for AL Manager of the Year

Among American League hitters with at least 300 plate appearances, Arraez's .334 average trailed only batting champion Tim Anderson (.335), while his .399 on-base percentage trailed only Mike Trout (.438), Alex Bregman (.423) and Alvarez (.412).

Arraez never generated the buzz of a top prospect as he rose through the Twins' organization, largely due to his lack of power ability, and he peaked at No. 15 on MLB Pipeline's rankings of Twins prospects in 2018. But Arraez's hit tool generated plenty of buzz at every level of the Minors, and he made an immediate impact for Minnesota in May when he was called up due to a rash of injuries in the Twins' infield.

The 22-year-old collected seven hits in his first four games, didn't strike out until his eighth Major League contest, wrested control of a starting role wherever the Twins could fit him and was one of the few highlights in the American League Division Series loss to the Yankees, where he went 5-for-11 with four doubles despite playing on an injured right ankle.

Arraez will almost certainly be the Twins' Opening Day starter at second base in 2020, and he figures to be the team's mainstay at the position for the foreseeable future.

"There was some sentiment around, empirically, that Arraez was one of our best hitters against the best pitching in the game from the point he was promoted to the big leagues," Twins general manager Thad Levine said after the season.