CHICAGO -- Luis Robert finished second in the 2020 American League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year voting, with Seattle outfielder Kyle Lewis earning the award. Houston’s Cristian Javier finished third.

Lewis became the first Mariners player to win Rookie of the Year since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001, doing so in unanimous fashion by getting all 30 first-place votes. Robert received 27 second-place votes, was listed on 29 of the 30 ballots and finished with 83 points behind 150 for Lewis.

• Here are the Rookie of the Year vote totals

If the award would have been voted on at the end of August, Robert might have been a near unanimous winner. The White Sox center fielder was just that dominant through the first five weeks and 33 games of this abbreviated season, with Robert even being discussed at that point as an AL MVP Award candidate behind a .960 OPS, 10 home runs, eight doubles and 24 RBIs.

An 11-for-81 slump with 32 strikeouts in September hampered Robert’s chances, which was all part of the development process and might have been overcome in a full 162-game season. But there’s no denying the Cuban native was as talented as everyone expected. He finished with a slash line of .233/.302/.436 to go with 11 home runs, 31 RBIs and nine stolen bases, while topping all rookies in RBIs and tying Lewis for the lead in homers.

Robert also caught everything hit to him and then some, winning a Gold Glove Award, while frequently racing into left or right field to catch balls out of his center-field zone. The 23-year-old bounced back from September struggles with a 4-for-13 showing in three playoff games and connected on a 487-foot home run off Mike Fiers in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series.

Robert made a significant impression in his first big league season after agreeing to a six-year, $50 million extension during Spring Training before even stepping on the field for a regular-season game, and he only figures to get better as the years go on under new manager Tony La Russa.

“I know [his experience] is going to be a benefit to me as I continue to develop in this game,” Robert said of playing for La Russa, through Carlos Peña, during the MLB Network awards broadcast Monday evening.

José Abreu was the last White Sox player to win Rookie of the Year (2014), and he presently is one of three finalists in this year’s AL MVP race, to be announced Thursday. The White Sox have had six Rookie of the Year winners: Abreu, Ozzie Guillen (1985), Ron Kittle (1983), Tommie Agee (1966), Gary Peters (1963) and Luis Aparicio (1956).