Jorge L. Ortiz

USA TODAY Sports

Michael Fulmer’s season-long body of work outshined Gary Sanchez’s two-month brilliance.

The Detroit Tigers right-hander, who emerged as a major contributor in a faltering rotation, was named the American League rookie of the year Monday. He received 26 of 30 first-place votes to beat out Sanchez, the New York Yankees catcher who set records with his potent bat after his Aug. 3 callup.

Fulmer, 23, went 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA to combine forces with staff ace Justin Verlander in boosting a pitching staff beset by injuries or poor performances from starters like Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey.

Fulmer, the key return in the swap that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets at the trade deadline in 2015, was nearly untouchable for a 10-start spell from May 21 to July 17. In that stretch he went 7-1 with an 0.83 ERA, allowing just 34 hits in 65 1/3 innings as the Tigers won nine of those games.

Relying on a diverse repertoire that included a fastball, sinker, slider and changeup, Fulmer elicited groundballs at a 49% rate and pitched at least six innings in 15 of his 26 starts. He ranked first among AL rookies in total innings (159) and strikeouts (132) and fell just three innings short of qualifying for the ERA race, where he placed third in the league.

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Those impressive numbers allowed Fulmer to edge out Sanchez, who became the darling of New York with his offensive exploits. The Dominican native was just the second player ever to hit 20 home runs in his first 51 career games, and he was twice named player of the week in his first month.

Sanchez’s home run exploits became a near-nightly story as the revitalized Yankees made a late push for the playoffs after trading away key veterans like Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran.

Sanchez, 23, hit nine homers in a 10-game span in August, finishing with 11 for the month. He cooled down in September, belting “only’’ nine homers. His batting average for the month did drop to .222, but Sanchez wound up with a healthy overall average of .299 and a monster on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.032.

His defensive work drew high marks as well, and the numbers supported the acclaim. Sanchez threw out 41% of would-be base stealers and registered 6.7 Defensive Runs Saved despite starting only 36 of his 53 games behind the plate.

The number of games played was one more than Hall of Famer Willie McCovey accumulated in 1959, when he was named the NL’s top rookie unanimously on the strength of 13 homers, a .354 batting average and a .656 slugging percentage.

While Sanchez’s impact was immediate and undeniable, Fulmer’s was more extensive, spread out over most of the season. He was called up April 29 and spent virtually the whole season with the Tigers, who were eliminated from playoff contention the last weekend of the season.

Fulmer ranked second on the team in innings pitched and wins, good enough to get by Sanchez.

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Ballots 1st places votes...2nd...3rd...Total

Michael Fulmer, Tigers ...26...4...0...142

Gary Sanchez, Yankees ...4...23...2...91

Tyler Naquin, Indians ...0...2...14...20

Chris Devenski, Astros ...0...1...4...7

Edwin Diaz, Mariners ...0...0...4...4

Nomar Mazara, Rangers ...0...0...4...4

Tim Anderson, White Sox ...0...0...2...2

Gallery: Recent AL rookie of the year winners