Graham's Word: 2015 MLB Award Predictions
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Thu, 10/08/2015 - 10:58am
Now that the regular season is over I can make my opinion heard on the major MLB Awards. Let the debate begin:
NL MVP: Nolan Arenado (COL): Yes, I went there and I know that he will not win it but that’s because the writers are too much in their own way. Don’t get me wrong, Harper had a great season but Arenado had a better one from a much tougher position and on a much worse team. Arenado blew Harper away in RBI’s 140 to 99....Not even close. Arenado finished with the same amount of HR’s 42 which was the league’s lead. Arenado also struck out less 110 to 131. Arenado also out hit Harper 177 to 172.
Arenado also had more extra base hits 47 to 39. As far as position goes just ask anyone who knows baseball which is the tougher position. Third base or Right field? Oh, and one more number that means nothing but I thought I would put it out there: $3,750,000 to $512,500. You take a guess as to which belongs to whom but once you figure that out in two seconds you can tell who was the better bargain overall. And yes, in 2003 a player won the MVP Award on a last place team so it has been done.
AL MVP: Josh Donaldson (TOR): I know, I know....I can hear it now: “WHAT?!?! How DARE you not pick Mike Trout!!!” I love Trout and he is the face of MLB in my opinion but the fact of the matter is Donaldson had a better season. Not because his team made the playoffs and Trout’s didn’t but the numbers sway in Donaldson’s favor. It was close though. Donaldson lead the league in RBI 123 to Trout’s 90. Donaldson finished with more hits 184 to 172, more extra base hits 42 to 38, and less strikeouts 133 to 158. Donaldson also scored more runs 122 to 104. Overall, it was a close race but if it comes down to two players like this and one makes the playoffs while the other goes home that usually (and unfortunately sometimes) sways the votes. I’m going with Donaldson.
NL Cy Young: Jake Arrieta (CHC): To me, this wasn’t even close in the end. Yeah I understand that Zack Greinke had a great season for the Dodgers but Jake was purely dominate all season long in what was by far the best division in baseball. The NL Central had three teams finish with over 90 wins. Jake was able to win 22 games (best in baseball), throw 4 complete games and 3 shutouts. Greinke? 19 wins, only one complete game and zero shutouts with a considerably easier schedule. Arrieta had more strikeouts 236 to 200, gave up less HR’s 10 to 14. Some people even want to throw Kershaw into the mix. I get it that he ended up with a good season but he quite frankly stumbled big time out of the gates and really had no business being named to the all-star team even though that was by default due to injury. If you’ve been paying attention all season then you know this award belongs to Arrieta hands down who was just a dominate force from game 1.
AL Cy Young: Dallas Keuchel (HOU): This one was closer. You can throw in Dallas’ teammate Collin McHugh into the hat along with David Price in my opinion but Dallas comes out on top. Keuchel was the only one in the AL to reach the 20 win milestone. He also led the league in WHIP (1.02) and IP (232.0). While these stats don’t always pick the winner necessarily you can’t look passed them. He finished in the top 5 of all the major pitching stats this year and obviously this was a career year for him. If you watched him all season you saw that he was the best pick for this award.
NL Rookie of the Year: Matt Duffy (SF): Hold on, I know what you are all thinking: ”You San Francisco Giants fan you.” But before you peg me as a “homer” just look at Duffy’s numbers: I’m going to say he finished with the second highest batting average out of all NL rookies with .295, with only Odubel Herrera finishing higher with .297 at comparable AB amount (495 for Herrera and 573 for Duffy) Duffy finished with the most AB’s out of all NL rookies with 573, the most hits with 169, and only struck out 96 times. Some say the Cubs’ Kris Bryant should get the award. Overall, Duffy did better and let’s not forget that Duffy had a late start to the season in which he eventually won the third base job over the major disappointment in Casey Mcgehee. Duffy was not a third baseman by trade but ended up being one of the best in all of baseball this year with a .965 fielding percentage.
AL Rookie of the Year: Francisco Lindor (CLE): This one was a toss-up. A lot of AL rookies put up fair numbers this year. You could put in Carlos Correa from Houston as well as Billy Burns from Oakland. After looking at the numbers (purely what this award is based on) Lindor, to me, comes out on top. He had the best average out of the AL rookies with .313. And among the leaders in every major category. As I said this is a toss-up with no clear stand out so we shall wait and see.
Those are my picks....As I said before: Let the debate begin!
— Chris Graham is a regular contributor to Carson Now and is the voice announcer for Western Nevada College baseball in Carson City.
