Clayton Kershaw Makes Impressive Return In D.C.

Going into Tuesday, it had been over a month since Clayton Kershaw last threw a pitch on the major league level (down in Australia against the Diamondback’s on March 22nd). However, despite the large gap due to an injury, Kershaw picked up right where he left off, overpowering the Nationals and recording his second win of the 2014 season — the 31st start of his career with zero earned runs on seven or more innings pitched.

Kershaw’s missed month was due to an injury he acquired after plowing through the D-backs lineup in game one of the 2014 Opening Series in Australia (a start that many are now questioning), experiencing a strained left shoulder muscle afterwards, which landed him on the disabled list for the first time in his seven-year career.

Though many people felt that the Dodgers were too cautious with Kershaw, spreading his rehabilitation out over several weeks, you can understand their concern, having just locked him up on a seven-year, 215 million dollar, record breaking contract back in January.

Making two rehab starts down in the minor leagues before getting the call back up to the majors, Kershaw’s return couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dodgers, who were merely managing to keep in contention, having gone 17-15 without him. Sitting behind the Rockies and Giants in the National League west, despite pre season predictions from many for them to run away with the division, having Kershaw back immediately makes the Dodgers a stronger overall team.

But the loss of their two-time Cy Young award winner for the first part of the season didn’t just have an impact on the Dodgers as a whole; it may prove to have a big impact on Kershaw himself. Although he moved to 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA on the season, behind an 8-3 win on Tuesday night against the Nat’s, having missed over a month, many pitchers in the National League have been given the opportunity to overtake Kershaw when it comes to the running for some of the games’ highest honors.

None more so than Jose Fernandez.

Fernandez, who finished third in Cy Young voting in 2013 (truly saying something considering the fact that it was his rookie season), currently sits as the front runner to make the start for the National League All-Star team in July, as well as to win the 2014 NL Cy Young award, with his stat line of 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA on the year.

Given, there’s still a ton of the season left where anything can happen, with Kershaw having to play catch up, Fernandez could potentially run away with the voting at season’s end, should he be able to continue his fantastic pitching performances.

Even so, Clayton Kershaw’s return is good for both the Dodgers and baseball, even if it did come a bit later than in year’s past. Every time he takes the mound, people stop and watch to see how Kershaw will perform, as there’s always the chance for something special to happen.

Going down in the record books — at least for now — as the highest annually paid pitcher in Major League Baseball history, Kershaw showed on Tuesday why he’s worth every penny the Dodgers spent, and, inevitably, why he will go down in the record books as one of the best pitchers the game of baseball has ever seen.

Cabrera and McCutchen Win MVP Award

The Most Valuable Player award was first given out in 1911 to Ty Cobb of the American League and Frank Schulte of the National League. Originally known as the Chalmers award, named after Hugh Chalmers, the award didn’t catch on as well as had been hoped, and therefore was discontinued after the 1914 season.

In 1922 the League Awards were established to honor the baseball player in the American League (National League began being recognized in 1924) who provided the greatest all-around service to their club. The winner — who received a medal and cash for winning — was voted on by a committee of eight baseball writers, with a player not being able to win more than once. Like the Chalmers awards, these awards didn’t last long, stopping in 1929.

Finally in 1931 the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Most Valuable Player award was established, which is the award still given out today.

Sixty-three players who have won the Most Valuable Player award have gone on to the Hall of Fame up until this point — several of those players are still active, however. The current record for most MVP awards is held by Barry Bonds, with seven, but thirty total players have won multiple Most Valuable Player awards in their career.

Voting for the award is fairly straightforward.

Two writers from each city of both the American League and National League make up the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) voters for the Most Valuable Player award, making a total of thirty voters for each league (fifteen teams, with two voters per city). A first place vote earns a player fourteen points, a second place vote gets nine points, a third place vote receives eight points, a fourth place vote is worth seven points, and so on, all the way until tenth place for one point. Once added up, the player with the highest overall total wins.

The 2013 Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player award winners for both the American League and National League were announced Thursday night on MLB Network. Here are the winners, along with my thoughts on each:

AMERICAN LEAGUE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Original Pick: Chris Davis

Finalists: Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis and Mike Trout

Winner: Miguel Cabrera

Thoughts On Miguel Cabrera Winning

Although I was pulling for Mike Trout to win the Most Valuable Player award last season, Miguel Cabrera ended up taking home the honor after having an incredible year in which he won the Triple Crown award. An injury in the last month of this season kept Cabrera from a second straight Triple Crown award, however, it didn’t stop him from winning his second straight MVP — something only eleven other players have been able to accomplish.

Receiving a total of 385 points, 23 of the 30 first-place votes, Cabrera was the overwhelming choice by the voters. The runner-up — with five first-place votes and a total of 282 points — Mike Trout, and the third place recipient, Chris Davis — with a single first-place vote netting 232 total points — weren’t even close. Although I had Chris Davis winning, I have no issues with Cabrera getting the award. He was very deserving; as was Trout.

Batting .348 with 44 home runs and 137 RBI’s, Cabrera put together an amazing season, and in addition is the only player of the three finalists to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, that’s a big part of why I feel he won. Davis posted a batting average 62 points lower than Cabrera, but led the majors in both homers and RBI’s, with 53 and 138 respectively. Had the Orioles played better as a whole, making it to the playoffs, Davis would likely be the winner.

Instead, Miguel Cabrera takes home the award for the second straight year.

The BBWAA’s vote had Mike Trout finishing second, with Chris Davis coming in third.

NATIONAL LEAGUE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Original Pick: Paul Goldschmidt

Finalists: Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew McCutchen and Yadier Molina

Winner: Andrew McCutchen

Thoughts On Andrew McCutchen Winning

Anytime a player bats .302 with 36 home runs and 125 RBI’s you have to strongly consider them for the Most Valuable Player award. That player, Paul Goldschimdt, was the most deserving of the MVP award in my mind, however, the baseball writers didn’t agree. Andrew McCutchen received the honor instead, getting 28 of the 30 first-place votes (Goldschmidt didn’t get a single one) for a total of 409 points.

Goldschmidt had to settle for second, with 242 points, just ahead of Yadier Molina, who received the other two first-place votes, earning him a total of 219 points. While Molina had a career year, and is a true leader for the Cardinals, he didn’t do enough to win. It came down to a two-man race between Goldschmidt and McCutchen. But after seeing the results of the vote, I suppose it was just a one-man race.

Although McCutchen hit for a .317 batting average with 21 home runs and 84 RBI’s — second in the National League in multi-hit games, with 60 — I don’t feel he was the most valuable.

I won’t spend a lot of time giving my reasons why (if you want to read that, click HERE) but ultimately I feel many people voted for McCutchen for the sole reason that the Pirates made the postseason (for the first time in 21 years) and Goldschmidt’s Diamondback’s didn’t. That’s not fair to base your vote on, in my opinion.

There were several other great reasons for McCutchen winning the award besides making the playoffs, but I just feel it should have gone to Goldschimdt, who had 15 more home runs and 41 more RBI’s than McCutchen this season.

Also, McCutchen didn’t lead the Pirates to the playoffs by himself; it was a team effort. He hit 10 more home runs and drove in 12 more runs last season than he did this year, yet the Buccos finished fourth in 2012, with McCutchen placing third in MVP voting. There’s too much inconsistency with the voting “criteria” for me.

In the end, while I don’t agree with McCutchen winning, I’m not all that upset that he did; though it may seem that way. He was still deserving despite not having the best stats.

Andrew McCutchen becomes the first Pirates’ MVP winner since Barry Bonds in 1992.

The BBWAA’s vote had Paul Goldschmidt finishing second, with Yadier Molina coming in third.

Scherzer and Kershaw Win Cy Young Award

The Cy Young award, named after the Hall of Fame pitcher who died in 1955, was first handed out in 1956 with the goal of recognizing the “most valuable pitcher” from each season. The first eleven years of the award saw one pitcher per year receiving the honor, but in 1967 the Cy Young began being handed out to a pitcher from each league who was voted on as the best from the season.

Fifteen players who have won the Cy Young award have gone on to the Hall of Fame up until this point — several of those players are still active, however. The current record for most Cy Young awards is held by Roger Clemens, with seven, but seventeen total players have won multiple Cy Young’s in their career.

Voting for the award is fairly straightforward.

Two writers from each city of both the American League and National League make up the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) voters for the Cy Young award, making a total of thirty voters for each league (fifteen teams, with two voters per city). A first place vote earns a player seven points, a second place vote gets four points, a third place vote receives three points, a fourth place vote is worth two points, with a fifth place vote earning a single point. Once added up, the player with the highest overall total wins.

The 2013 Major League Baseball Cy Young award winners for both the American League and National League were announced Wednesday night on MLB Network. Here are the winners, along with my thoughts on each:

AMERICAN LEAGUE CY YOUNG

Original Pick: Max Scherzer

Finalists: Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma and Max Scherzer

Winner: Max Scherzer

Thoughts On Max Scherzer Winning

Max Scherzer winning the Cy Young award seemed to be an easy choice, as he was the only pitcher with twenty or more wins this past season, however, both Yu Darvish and Hisashi Iwakuma had great cases, with many people siding with one of them. But in the end, the writers’ voted for Scherzer, giving him 28 of the 30 first-place votes, and a total of 203 points.

Although Yu Darvish, who received 93 points, was better than Scherzer in both ERA and strikeouts — leading the league in games with ten or more strikeouts, with twelve — it was hard to overlook a win-loss record of 21-3 for Scherzer, which is what I feel ultimately gave him the edge over his competition.

Along with his impressive record, Scherzer posted a 2.90 ERA with 240 strikeouts, and in addition had a win streak of thirteen games to start the season. Many people make the argument that wins aren’t a very good indicator of a pitcher’s performance, being determined by a teams run support — a case make for Iwakuma, who earned 73 of the voters’ points — and while I agree, I don’t think it was close enough to completely throw Scherzer’s record out the door.

Max Scherzer had a great season and was the most deserving of the Cy Young award.

The BBWAA’s vote had Yu Darvish finishing second, with Hisashi Iwakuma coming in third.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CY YOUNG

Original Pick: Clayton Kershaw

Finalists: Jose Fernandez, Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright

Winner: Clayton Kershaw

Thoughts On Clayton Kershaw Winning

There was really no contest in the running for National League Cy Young. Clayton Kershaw, who won the award in 2011 and finished second in 2012, had an amazing year, and with the stats he was able to post, you had to figure he was going to be the winner. The voters agreed, as it wasn’t even close. Kershaw received all but one of the first-place votes, earning him 207 total points, beating out Adam Wainwright’s 86 points, and Jose Fernandez’s 62 — Fernandez picked up the Rookie of the Year award on Monday.

The only pitcher recognized on every voters’ ballot, Kershaw had a historical year, going 16-9 with an astounding 1.83 ERA; the lowest ERA since Pedro Martinez in 2000, and the lowest National League ERA for a left-hander since Sandy Koufax in 1966. With a batting average against of .195, Kershaw put up great numbers in every aspect possible.

Kershaw becomes the 17th pitcher in history to win multiple Cy Young awards in their career, and the third pitcher to lead the league in ERA for three consecutive seasons.

At just 25 years old, odds are this won’t be the last Cy Young award for Clayton Kershaw.

The BBWAA’s vote had Adam Wainwright finishing second, with Jose Fernandez coming in third.

Wild Finishes Send World Series Back to Boston

As I wrote in my last blog post, there was a chance coming into St. Louis that either the Cardinals or the Red Sox could win the World Series, should they be able to sweep the other team. But thanks to a couple of wild finished, the series heads back to Boston — the Red Sox lead 3-2 — where a champion will be crowned at Fenway Park for the first time since 1975, when the Reds beat out the Red Sox in seven games. (If the Sox win it will be their first World Series clinch at home since 1918.)

But a lot took place to get to this point.

Going into game three, on Saturday, the Red Sox had Jake Peavy on the mound taking on the Cardinals’ Joe Kelly. Both Peavy and Kelly had been decent this season/postseason, and both were looking to give their team the edge in this talent-laden World Series.

Peavy had a bit of trouble early, allowing a couple runs to the Cardinals in the bottom of the first inning, but he quickly regained himself, not allowing a run the remainder of his four inning outing. Kelly was just a bit better, however, as he gave up only one run over 5.1 innings, when he was replaced by Randy Choate, who promptly gave up the game tying run to the Red Sox.

The bottom of the seventh saw the Cardinals retaking the lead, on a two-run double by Matt Holliday. But just as to be expected in an exciting World Series game, the Red Sox tied things up in the very next inning. Making the score 4-4, heading into the ninth.

Things would then get interesting.

The Sox failed to score in the top half, as Trevor Rosenthal was dominant once again, giving the Cardinals a chance to walk-off with a big win. Which they did, but not in the most conventional way. A Yadier Molina single was followed up with an Allen Craig pinch-hit double, placing runners at second and third with just one away. Jon Jay would then ground to Dustin Pedroia, who quickly threw home for the out, but a wide throw by Jarrod Saltalamacchia led to the most talked about World Series play in years.

Will Middlebrooks found himself with nowhere to go after diving for the errant throw, leaving third base umpire, Jim Joyce, to signal obstruction, after Allen Craig tripped over Middlebrooks, which would subsequently win the Cardinals the ballgame. Not a way you’d like to see a game of that magnitude end, but you had to figure it would give the Red Sox added motivation in the next game.

Game four didn’t have a controversial finish, but it did end in just as unusual of fashion.

A surprise to many, Clay Buchholz, who had been reported at thirty percent healthy, had a great game for the Red Sox, only allowing a single run through his four innings on the mound. Lance Lynn, who isn’t really acknowledged that often, had a great game as well, also giving up a single run through his 5.1 innings pitched.

Although, after Lynn allowed a couple of base runners in the fifth, he was replaced by Seth Maness — a mistake in my mind, as Maness has been getting hit all postseason — who allowed a homer to Jonny Gomes, making the score 4-1, Red Sox.

The Cardinals would score a run in the seventh, and go onto make a push to tie the game in the ninth, but a mistake by rookie Kolten Wong ended the game with everyone stunned. Getting picked off at first by Koji Uehara, Wong became the first player in postseason history to get picked off to end the ballgame.

The series once again became tied, heading into a final game in St. Louis.

A rematch of game one, game six saw Adam Wainwright going up against Jon Lester in a pivotal game. Both Lester and Wainwright pitched well — Wainwright struck out six batters through the first two innings — as they both allowed a mere one run through the first six innings.

The one run off of Wainwright came from an RBI-double by David Ortiz, who is now hitting .733 in the series — the only Red Sox player in history with back-to-back 3-hit nights in the Fall Classic. Lester’s lone run came off a solo-shot homer to Matt Holliday — one of Lester’s only four hits allowed.

The Red Sox would get the better of Wainwright in the seventh, scoring two runs to make the score 3-2, Sox. And that’s how the game would end, as Koji Uehara was stellar once again, closing out the game for the Red Sox.

The Cardinals and Red Sox now head back to Boston. It will be interesting to see how each team plays, knowing game six could be it. The way this World Series has been going, however, — especially with Michael Wacha pitching game six for the Cardinals — I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it go seven games. But, in the end, if I had to pick a favorite at this point in the series, I’d have to give the Red Sox the edge.

We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.