We’re shaking things up with our awards race coverage. Each week, LWOS Baseball will hold a department vote to determine who our writers feel deserves each award. The MVP award is up this week, with the Cy Young next week and the Rookie of the Year award the week after.
Voting was done in the style of the BBWAA Cy Young vote, where each eligible participant submits a top five for each league. Seven points are awarded for a first place vote, four for a second, three for a third, two for a fourth and one for a fifth.
The LWOS Baseball department has spoken, voting Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton as the most deserving MVPs. While Stanton’s selection is no surprise, as he is far and away the best hitter in the NL, Trout is considered the AL frontrunner despite clearly having the worst season of his career.
Of course, that statement says a lot about the 23-year old’s greatness, as he is still hitting .284/.368/.545 (all career-worsts) with 31 homers and a league-leading 100 RBI (both career-bests). While his 14 steals leave much to be desired, given the 82 bags he’s swiped over the previous two seasons, he did so at a stellar 88% success rate.
The problem for Trout has been his strikeout and walk rates. His 71 walks are still very good, but a far cry from the league-leading 110 he drew last year. His 159 strikeouts, however, are already well above his career high and likely a significant reason for his batting average dropping 40 points.
Stanton, on the other hand, is having the season we’ve been waiting for since his call up five years ago. After fighting a number of injuries over the past two seasons, Stanton has stayed healthy in a season full of injuries to star players. He has set, or will set, career highs in every meaningful offensive stat and is leading the league in home runs (36), RBI (104), walks (90), on-base percentage (.399) and slugging (.561).
Neither vote was particularly close, as Trout’s 51 points easily beat runner-up Jose Abreu’s 28. Trout received five of a possible nine first place votes, and was the only player in the AL who appeared on every ballot. To his credit, Abreu has hit .321/.382/.600, with an outrageous .374/.448/.569 line since the beginning of July.
In third place, with 22 points, was Royals leftfielder Alex Gordon who, despite a modest .277/.354/.455 slash line has been gaining considerable MVP support thanks to his incredible defense in leftfield. Such support, however, is largely as a result of the Royals emergence as legitimate contenders as Gordon was as good, or better in 2011 and 2012 with zero recognition. He appeared on just five ballots, though he and Abreu were the only others to receive first place votes, with two each.
Rounding out the top five in the AL was Josh Donaldson (20 points), for largely the same reasons as Gordon; his mind-blowing defense and good-but-not-great hitting, and Felix Hernandez (5 points).
The NL vote was a little closer, with Stanton’s 48 points beating Clayton Kershaw’s 37. Like Trout, Stanton received five first place votes and was the only player on every ballot.
For Kershaw, every start he makes between now and the end of the season will only bring him closer to the MVP award. Having missed a month of the season is the only thing holding him back, as he is in the midst of a historically excellent season. Kershaw has allowed one run or fewer in 16 of his 23 starts, a 70% rate. To put that into perspective, Bob Gibson had the same such rate in 1968, when he posted a 1.12 ERA. He received three first place votes.
Andrew McCutchen (20 points) finished third, being the only other player to receive a first place vote. Last year’s winner, he is having a great all-around season hitting .305/.397/.527 with 21 homers and 17 steals at an 89% success rate.
In fourth place was Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy (16 points), who has hit .301/369/.481 with a league-leading 49 doubles. He is also an outstanding defensive catcher and one of the best pitch-framers in the game, a concept which has been growing in popularity in terms of evaluating a catcher’s defensive value. In fifth was the Giants’ Hunter Pence, with 11 points, who has a league-leading 172 hits and 101 runs scored.
Other players on more than one ballot in the AL were Jose Altuve, Jose Bautista, Victor Martinez, Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz, all of whom appeared on two except Seager, who got three fifth place votes. In the NL, Anthony Rizzo and Justin Upton were the only others on more than one ballot, Rizzo appearing on three and Upton on two, with one second place vote.
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