In a heated NL Rookie of the Year competition between the San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey and the Atlanta Braves’ Jason Heyward, Posey wound up dominating the voting with 20 first-place votes, 11 more than Heyward’s. After Posey and Heyward, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Jaime Garcia took third place.
Here are the full results:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points | |
| Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants | 20 | 9 | 2 | 129 |
| Jason Hayward, Atlanta Braves | 9 | 20 | 2 | 107 |
| Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 1 | 16 | 24 |
| Gaby Sanchez, Florida Marlins | 2 | 1 | 5 | 18 |
| Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 | 3 | ||
| Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs | 3 | 3 | ||
| Ike Davis, New York Mets | 2 | 2 | ||
| Jose Tabata, Pittsburgh Pirates | 1 | 1 | ||
| Jonny Venters, Atlanta Braves | 1 | 1 |
Posey, who played 76 games at catcher, hit .305 with an .862 OPS as a 23-year-old in 2010. He belted 18 homers in a total of 108 games played. Heyward showed tremendous ability as a 20-year-old in the Braves’ outfield. He hit .277 with a .849 OPS and stole 11 bases.
Curiously, the Colorado Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin failed to receive even one vote, while Pittsburgh’s Neil Walker and Jose Tabata and Atlanta’s Jonny Venters each appeared on a ballot. Chacin put up a 3.28 ERA and struck out 138 in 137 1/3 innings. Maybe the 9-11 record did him in, but pitcher wins are not the be all and end all of evaluation.