Fulmer and Seager Win Rookie of the Year Award

The Rookie of the Year award was first handed out in 1947 to Jackie Robinson, after he broke baseball’s color barrier and went on to have a great first season of what would become a Hall of Fame career. Given out to a single player again in 1948, the award was expanded in 1949 to include a player from each league, and has been that way ever since.

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 Rookie of the Year award, making a total of thirty voters for each league (fifteen teams, with two voters per city). A first place vote earns a player five points, a second place vote gets three points, with a third place vote receiving one point. Once added up, the player with the highest overall total wins.

The 2016 Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year award winners for both the American League and National League were announced Monday night on MLB Network. Here are the winners, along with my thoughts on each:

AMERICAN LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Original Pick: Gary Sanchez

Finalists: Tyler Naquin, Gary Sanchez and Michael Fulmer

Winner: Michael Fulmer

Thoughts On Michael Fulmer Winning

There may have been three finalists for the American League Rookie of the Year, but in the end there were truly only two frontrunners for the award, being Michael Fulmer and Gary Sanchez. Despite Tyler Naquin having blasted 14 homers in his first season, he didn’t compare statistically to the two aforementioned rookies.

But despite narrowing the running down to two star players, that’s where the easy decisions ended. No one seemed to agree upon whether the R.O.Y. should go to Sanchez or Fulmer, but there truly was no bad choice. They each were very deserving.

However, it was Fulmer who ended up winning the award. Earning 26 of the 30 first-place votes, Fulmer tallied 142 points, and was the only player named to every single ballot cast. Sanchez placed second with his 91 points (earning the other 4 first place votes), leaving Naquin in third with 20 points.

Although Fulmer began to tail off a bit towards the end of the season, his 3.06 season long ERA over the course of 159 innings pitched proved to be more impressive to the BBWAA than Sanchez’s 20 HR in just 53 games. That larger sample size was likely what helped push Fulmer over the edge, joining him with the likes of Justin Verlander — the last Tigers’ pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year.

Only time will tell if Michael Fulmer will turn out to have the same level of success as his Tigers teammate.

NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Original Pick: Corey Seager

Finalists: Kenta Maeda, Trea Turner and Corey Seager

Winner: Corey Seager

Thoughts On Corey Seager Winning

Unlike the American League side, the National League portion wasn’t all that difficult of an award to predict the winner of. The heavy favorite to win the Rookie of the Year before the season even began, Seager took home the honor in unanimous fashion, following in the footsteps of Kris Bryant, who did so in 2015.

Seager becomes just the 21st player in history to receive all thirty first-place votes to win the R.O.Y. award, earning him a total of 150 points. The runner up for the award was Trea Turner, who racked up 42 points, followed by Kenta Maeda, who received 37.

Despite Turner hitting .342 on the season, and Kenta Maeda posting a good 3.48 ERA in his rookie campaign, no one could come close to stopping Seager from making his name as the 17th Rookie of the Year winner all-time for the Dodgers, who now have a R.O.Y. winner at every position except third base.

Seager’s 26 home runs and 72 RBI’s this season, in which he played in all but five games, made him the easy choice for Rookie of the Year. His 193 hits also mark the most for a rookie since 2001, adding yet another standout statistic to his rookie campaign.

But while his rookie season was unbelievable, many see Corey Seager only improving.

BBWAA Award Finalists Announced

It’s that time of year again. After months spent grinding things out throughout the baseball season, all leading up to the first World Series title for the Cubs in 108 years, award season is finally here.

Although the winners of the major awards won’t be officially announced until next week, the top three vote-getters were unveiled on Monday evening. For the mot part, I agree with the finalists for the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and MVP awards, but there were a few I was surprised about.

Here are the top three players still in the running for the major MLB awards:

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

American League: Tyler Naquin, Gary Sanchez and Michael Fulmer

National League: Kenta Maeda, Trea Turner and Corey Seager

I have Gary Sanchez and Corey Seager winning the Rookie of the Year award.

CY YOUNG FINALISTS

American League: Corey Kluber, Rick Porcello and Justin Verlander

National League: Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester and Max Scherzer

I have Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer winning the Cy Young award.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER FINALISTS

American League: Mike Trout, Mookie Betts and Jose Altuve

National League: Kris Bryant, Daniel Murphy and Corey Seager

I had David Ortiz and Kris Bryant winning the Most Valuable Player award. However, with Ortiz not being a finalist, I am thinking Mookie Betts will likely take home the award.

The winner of each award will begin being announced next week on MLB Network.

Here’s the schedule:

AL & NL Rookie of the Year: November 14th

AL & NL Cy Young: November 16th

AL & NL Most Valuable Player: November 17th

I plan on posting a recap of each winner, along with a look at how well I did with my predictions, in a blog entry after each award is officially announced. So be sure to check back for that at some point next week.

Recap of My Votes for the 2016 MLB Major Awards

Over the past week, or so, I’ve been typing up individual posts on who I feel most deserves the awards of American League and National League Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player. I decided to post them in pairs, with Rookie of the Year coming back-to-back (A.L. then N.L.), followed by the same for Cy Young and MVP.

Some of the choices were easy, while others took a great deal of debate. But in the end, I went with my gut of who I feel deserves each award the most.

In case you missed a few (or all) of my Major League Baseball award posts, I wanted to do a brief recap of each of my picks. Although there are a couple of selections that people will likely disagree with, this is just the way I would vote if my vote had any say.

Here are my picks that I made for each category:

American League Rookie of the Year: Gary Sanchez

National League Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager

American League Cy Young: Justin Verlander

National League Cy Young: Max Scherzer

American League MVP: David Ortiz

National League MVP: Kris Bryant

Feel free to click the links associated with each award to be taken to my post on it, giving the full reasoning behind my picks. I’m planning to post a blog entry covering the winners of each award when they’re announced towards the middle of next month, comparing my original picks to the winners and giving my overall thoughts, so be sure to check back for that when the time arrives.

My Vote for 2016 N.L. Rookie of the Year Award

As I stated in my American League Rookie of the Year post, watching young players succeed upon their first year in the majors is always fun. Though it never guarantees that any given player will carry that early success throughout their career, it’s always a good indication of which players are going to be stars for years to come. We certainly had a fair share of those type of players in the National League this season, with players such as Trea Turner, Brandon Drury, Junior Guerra, Aledmys Diaz, Ryan Schimpf, Tommy Joseph, Corey Seager, Trevor Story and Seung Hwan Oh all having seasons worthy of recognition. However, in the end, only one player can win the coveted Rookie of the Year award.

With so many names in theoretical contention for the award this season, it’s simply not practical to discuss them all, and thus I’ll take this time to go ahead and eliminate a few of them from my list right now. Brandon Drury, Ryan Schimpf and Tommy Joseph are the easiest to eliminate, as although they each has something special among their stats, the simply sit at the bottom of the pack when it comes to the running for the award.

Now having that out of the way, the next player I can take out is Aledmys Diaz. While he lead all of baseball in batting average for a good bit of time upon his arrival this season, Diaz fell off as the year went on. Even so, his 17 homers and 65 runs batted in to go along with an even .300 average make him a player worth watching in the future.

Next to be slashed off is Seung Hwan Oh, who is probably not a well known name to the majority of baseball fans. Even so, there is good reason to learn his name. Striking out 103 batters in 76 relief appearances for the Cardinals this season, Oh’s 1.92 ERA is very impressive, but not good enough to make me feel he is deserving of the award.

The other pitcher on my list — of the starting variety — is yet another young star in the making. Junior Guerra’s 2.81 ERA over 20 starts for the Brewers was truly one of the only bright spots of yet another down year for the Brewers. If he can keep that going in the future, Guerra could turn out to be a valuable part of Milwaukee’s rotation.

One of the toughest things for me to do is put Trea Turner finishing third on my Rookie of the Year list, but that’s exactly where I have him falling. His .342 average on the season with 33 stolen bases and 13 home runs make him a well-rounded future All-Star, but not the Rookie of the Year winner.

It came down to a couple of sluggers in my mind, with Trevor Story finishing runner up. Had he not have gotten hurt, things would’ve been much closer, with Story perhaps winning the award, but his 27 home runs and 72 RBI’s have him placing second. Given, this power surge could’ve been a fluke, but it would appear Story has found a home in Denver.

The winner of the National League Rookie of the Year award therefore falls to Corey Seager, who was the heavy favorite heading into the 2016 season. His stats are hard to ignore, as Seager looks to be the Dodgers’ starting shortstop for the next decade or more. Seager’s .308 average combined with 26 home runs and 72 RBI’s make him one of the game’s brightest stars in the coming years.

My Vote for 2016 A.L. Rookie of the Year Award

Watching young players succeed upon their first year in the majors is always fun. Though it never guarantees that any given player will carry that early success throughout their career, it’s always a good indication of which players are going to be stars for years to come. We certainly had a fair share of those type of players in the American League this season, with players such as Edwin Diaz, Nomar Mazara, Tyler Naquin, Gary Sanchez, Max Kepler and Michael Fulmer all having seasons worthy of recognition. However, in the end, only one player can win the coveted Rookie of the Year award.

This season for the Mariners, Edwin Diaz had an unbelievable rookie campaign, recording 18 saves and posting a 2.79 ERA over 51.2 innings in which he struck out 88 batters. But while he looks to have a bright career moving forward, there were several other better candidates for Rookie of the Year than Diaz.

Likewise, this season saw Max Kepler having a fantastic year, knocking 17 homers and recording 63 RBI’s. However, what’s keeping him from being a true contender for the award in my mind is his dismal .235 batting average. But while that’s disappointing, look for Kepler to raise that number as he gets more experience moving forward.

Tyler Naquin was another one of the standout rookies from the 2016 American League crop. Hitting .296 on the year with 14 homers, Naquin helped play a big role in carrying the Indians into the postseason. He should remain one of their big-time pieces in the future, but he didn’t do enough this season to earn the award.

As with Naquin, the Rangers’ Nomar Mazara is a player deserving of vast recognition, but not the award for Rookie of the Year. Getting off to an unbelievable start, but cooling off drastically as the season went on, Mazara’s 20 homers and 64 RBI’s are very impressive, but not impressive enough for any better than third on my list.

The same holds true for the stats of Michael Fulmer, who was the favorite for the award until the last bit of the season. Still, despite not having the strong finish to the year to cement an award win, Fulmer broke out in 2016 as one of the best pitchers on the Tigers’ staff, with his 3.06 ERA over 159 innings pitched.

That leaves just Gary Sanchez as the player who I feel is most deserving of the Rookie of the Year award for the American League. It is a bit of a controversial pick, as Sanchez’s 20 home runs and 42 RBI’s on the season came over the course of just 53 games played — not even a third of a full season. But despite that, Sanchez had an absolutely historical season that leaves little doubt in my mind that he should win the top honor for American League rookies.

2016 Award Frontrunners at the All-Star Break

Sunday marked the last day of MLB games until Friday, and although the baseball world is currently focused on San Diego and the All-Star game that is set to take place tonight, I wanted to quickly focus my attention on the players who have posted amazing performances throughout the first half of the season.

For this post, I’m covering the players who I feel stand the best chance right now (given, it’s still early) of winning the three major awards of Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Cy Young. All three awards have multiple players who can be argued as being deserving, but I have my own opinion as to who deserves each award the most at this point in the season.

Most Valuable Player Award

American League: Mark Trumbo

Sitting as the league leader in home runs at the All-Star break, there is no true competition for Mark Trumbo when it comes to American League MVP. Trumbo has been absolutely tremendous for the Orioles all season long, batting .288 while driving in 68 runs with 28 homers, and is a huge part in them sitting in first place. Unless things fall apart for Trumbo, he should easily walk away with the award at season’s end.

National League: Kris Bryant

There are far more options to choose from when picking for the National League MVP award, but I’m going with Kris Bryant at the moment. Like the Orioles, the Cubs are in first place large in part due to Bryant’s stellar numbers for yet another season. With 25 home runs, including a three-homer performance earlier in the year, Bryant is truly showing how much of an impact he is in the National League.

Rookie of the Year Award

American League: Nomar Mazara

All season long, Nomar Mazara has wowed fans with his immense power displays that he has been able to put on with each of his eleven home runs. He may not have overwhelming stats, but Mazara has done enough to earn him the American League Rookie of the Year award, in my mind. But even so, there’s a young Tigers’ rookie pitcher by the name of Michael Fulmer who is pressing to overtake Mazara. If Mazara doesn’t keep things going, he may lose out in the end.

National League: Corey Seager

This was one of the most difficult awards to decide upon. From Trevor Story to Kenta Maeda, there are several great options to choose from. But I wound up going with Corey Seager, who was the favorite to win the award even before the season began. With so many top notch NL rookies, this award could truly come down to the wire, but with Seager having blasted 17 homers with 42 RBI’s, all while hitting .297, I’ll go with him for now.

Cy Young Award

American League: Steven Wright

The most recent knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young award came back in 2012 when R.A. Dickey took home the honor. However, it appears that things may play out that way again this year. Steven Wright has been extremely consistent throughout this season with the Red Sox, breaking out as their true ace of the staff, despite David Price being on the team. Although his strikeout totals aren’t that high, Wright’s AL-best 2.68 ERA really stands out.

National League: Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw is currently on the disabled list, but as long as it doesn’t impact the rest of the season, Kershaw looks to be in line for yet another Cy Young award. His closest competition at the moment, Madison Bumgarner, has been just as good as Kershaw, having notched three more starts than Kershaw and holding a 1.94 ERA to Kershaw’s 1.79. When it comes down to it, though, I still see Kershaw pulling out the award win.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with my picks for who deserves each award at this point in the season, one thing is for sure: there is still a lot of season left where any player can have anything happen. With 19 of the 30 teams at .500 or better, in terms of wins-losses go, regardless of the award races, the games following the mid-summer classic are sure to make for an exciting second half.

Correa and Bryant Win Rookie of the Year Award

The Rookie of the Year award was first handed out in 1947 to Jackie Robinson, after he broke baseball’s color barrier and went on to have a great first season of what would become a Hall of Fame career. Given out to a single player again in 1948, the award was expanded in 1949 to include a player from each league, and has been that way ever since.

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 Rookie of the Year award, making a total of thirty voters for each league (fifteen teams, with two voters per city). A first place vote earns a player five points, a second place vote gets three points, with a third place vote receiving one point. Once added up, the player with the highest overall total wins.

The 2015 Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year award winners for both the American League and National League were announced Monday night on MLB Network. Here are the winners, along with my thoughts on each:

AMERICAN LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Original Pick: Carlos Correa

Finalists: Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Miguel Sano

Winner: Carlos Correa

Thoughts On Carlos Correa Winning

For a player who made his MLB debut two full months into the season (June 8th), Carlos Correa put up unbelievable stats in 2015. The former number one overall pick in 2012, Correa batted .279 with 22 home runs and 68 RBI’s, all while stealing 14 bags to boot.

Carlos Correa received 17 of the 30 first-place American League Rookie of the Year votes, for a total of 124 points, to edge out runner up Francisco Lindor, with his 109 points, and Twins’ slugger Miguel Sano, with a mere 20 points. At just 21 years old, Correa was the youngest position player in the big leagues this season, and with him still learning how to go about life in the big leagues, he will only improve as the years go on.

Correa became the 14th shortstop in history to win the award, and is just the second Astros player to earn the honor, joining Jeff Bagwell who won back in 1991.

Although some players have posted great rookie seasons only to go onto have poor MLB careers, it’s safe to say that Carlos Correa is bound for many more historic seasons moving forward.

NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Original Pick: Kris Bryant

Finalists: Kris Bryant, Matt Duffy and Jung Ho Kang

Winner: Kris Bryant

Thoughts On Kris Bryant Winning

Kris Bryant’s journey to the major leagues was a short one, going from first round draft pick in 2013 to MLB All-Star this past season (Joc Pederson was the only other rookie in the Midsummer Classic). Furthermore, in the minds of many, it was Bryant’s performance all season long was one of the many key factors that helped carry the Cubs to the postseason.

Winning the National League Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote (just the 20th such player in history), Bryant follows in the footsteps of fellow Chicago slugger Jose Abreu, who won the American League Rookie of the Year last season, earning all 30 first-place votes.

Bryant batted .275 with 26 homers and 99 RBI’s this season (breaking both the homers and RBI’s mark for a Cubs’ rookie), and, despite his league-leading 199 strikeouts, was truly the only logical choice for the award. He was consistent for the most part throughout 2015, and came up big each and every time the Cubs needed him to.

Picking up each of the 30 first-place votes, Bryant’s 150 points overall easily carry him past the runner up, Matt Duffy, who picked up 70 points, and Jung Ho Kang, who placed third, with his 28 overall points from the BBWAA.

As with Carlos Correa, the newest Chicago Cubs’ superstar, Kris Bryant, will likely only get better as time goes on. It should be interesting to see how Correa and Bryant, and their respective teams, fare over the next decade or so.

2015 Gold Glove Awards; BBWAA Award Finalists

The 2015 Major League Baseball Gold Glove award winners were announced Tuesday night on ESPN2. Given out each year to the players who are judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League, the award is voted on by the managers and coaches in each league (managers can not vote for their own players).

Marking the 59th annual Gold Glove Awards, which began back in 1957, there have been some terrific players to receive the honor. However, no other player has won more Gold Gloves in their career or in a row than Greg Maddux, who took home 18 total and 13 consecutively.

While Maddux’s records seem fairly safe for now, there were some winners for 2015 who could win quite a few Gold Gloves as the years go on. Here’s a recap of the winners, with my thoughts on each:

CATCHER

AL Nominees – Jason Castro, Russell Martin and Salvador Perez

AL Winner – Salvador Perez (3rd career)

NL Nominees – Yadier Molina, Buster Posey and Wilson Ramos

NL Winner – Yadier Molina (8th career)

Picking up his third straight career Gold Glove award, Salvador Perez was by far the best catcher in all of the American League in 2015. On the National League side of things, Yadier Molina takes home his eighth straight Gold Glove award. One of the best at controlling a pitching staff in all of baseball, it’s no surprise that Molina won yet again.

PITCHER

AL Nominees – Mark Buehrle, Sonny Gray and Dallas Keuchel

AL Winner – Dallas Keuchel (2nd career)

NL Nominees – Jake Arrieta, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke

NL Winner – Zack Greinke (2nd career)

Dallas Keuchel had a great year and defended his position well all year long, earning him his second career Gold Glove award. Likewise, Zack Greinke had an equally good year for the Dodgers. Both are strong candidate for winning the 2015 Cy Young awards as well.

LEFT FIELDER

AL Nominees – Yoenis Cespedes, Brett Gardner and Alex Gordon

AL Winner – Yoenis Cespedes (1st career)

NL Nominees – Starling Marte, Justin Upton and Christian Yelich

NL Winner – Starling Marte (1st career)

There are a lot of good left fielders in baseball, but Yoenis Cespedes and Starling Marte stand above the rest. Each picked up their first career Gold Gloves, and both could be looking at many more down the road. With them roaming the outfield, they each give their respective teams great defense each and every game.

CENTER FIELDER

AL Nominees – Kevin Kiermier, Kevin Pillar and Mike Trout

AL Winner – Kevin Kiermier (1st career)

NL Nominees – Billy Hamilton, Andrew McCutchen and A.J. Pollock

NL Winner – A.J. Pollock (1st career)

Keeping with the theme of first time winners, both award recipients for center field won their very first award on Tuesday night. Kevin Kiermier has really broken out for the Rays as both an offensive threat and an outfielder who can grab anything hit his way. A.J. Pollock is also a newcomer who has done much of the same.

RIGHT FIELDER

AL Nominees – Kole Calhoun, J.D. Martinez and Josh Reddick

AL Winner – Kole Calhoun (1st career)

NL Nominees – Curtis Granderson, Bryce Harper and Jason Heyward

NL Winner – Jason Heyward (3rd career)

Although any of the three candidates for the American League would’ve been worth winner, I’m glad Kole Calhoun took home the honor. He had a great season, picking up his first career Gold Glove. Jason Heyward picks up his third career Gold Glove after playing a great right field for the Cardinals.

FIRST BASE

AL Nominees – Eric Hosmer, Mike Napoli and Mark Teixeira

AL Winner – Eric Hosmer (3rd career)

NL Nominees – Brandon Belt, Paul Goldschmidt and Adrian Gonzalez

NL Winner – Paul Goldschmidt (2nd career)

Eric Hosmer takes home his third straight Gold Glove award for first base, as he was a big factor in the Royals making it to, and ultimately winning, the World Series. Paul Goldschmidt didn’t guide his team to the playoffs, but he did play another great season at first base for the D-backs, earning him his second career Gold Glove.

SECOND BASE

AL Nominees – Jose Altuve, Brian Dozier and Ian Kinsler

AL Winner – Jose Altuve (1st career)

NL Nominees – Dee Gordon, D.J. LeMahieu and Brandon Phillips

NL Winner – Dee Gordon (1st career)

Both Jose Altuve and Dee Gordon won their first career Gold Glove awards on Tuesday, and each are very deserving. Altuve has always stood out at the shortstop position ever since breaking out offensively a few years ago. Gordon also was very deserving of the first of what is sure to be many Gold Gloves for him.

SHORTSTOP

AL Nominees – Xander Bogaerts, Alcides Escobar and Didi Gregorius

AL Winner – Alcides Escobar (1st career)

NL Nominees – Brandon Crawford, Adeiny Hechavarria and Andrelton Simmons

NL Winner – Brandon Crawford (1st career)

Alcides Escobar is the third Royals player to win a Gold Glove award in 2015, and, like Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez, he is very worthy. Brandon Crawford also picked up his first career award, after having another solid year at the shortstop position for the Giants.

THIRD BASE

AL Nominees – Adrian Beltre, Evan Longoria and Manny Machado

AL Winner – Manny Machado (2nd career)

NL Nominees – Nolan Arenado, Matt Duffy and Todd Frazier

NL Winner – Nolan Arenado (3rd career)

Manny Machado won his second career Gold Glove award on Tuesday evening, after another brilliant year at the hot corner for Baltimore. He is one of the most exciting players to watch man his position in all of baseball. As is Nolan Arenado, who makes virtually every play and deservingly won his third straight Gold Glove.

2015 GOLD GLOVE AWARDS FAST FACTS

• There were nine first-time Gold Glove winners.
• The Royals had the most Gold Gloves winners, with three.
• There were seven Gold Glove winners who also won a Gold Glove in 2014.

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Also announced last night were the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) award finalists for 2015 Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player. For the most part, I agree with the finalists, but there are a few I’m surprised about.

Here are the finalists, with who I have winning (click their names to find out why):

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

American League: Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Miguel Sano

National League: Kris Bryant, Matt Duffy and Jung Ho Kang

I have Carlos Correa and Kris Bryant winning the Rookie of the Year award.

CY YOUNG FINALISTS

American League: Sonny Gray, Dallas Keuchel and David Price

National League: Jake Arrieta, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw

I have David Price and Jake Arrieta winning the Cy Young award.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER FINALISTS

American League: Lorenzo Cain, Josh Donaldson and Mike Trout

National League: Paul Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper and Joey Votto

I have Josh Donaldson and Bryce Harper winning the Most Valuable Player award.

The winner of each award will begin being announced next week on MLB Network.

Here’s the schedule:

AL & NL Rookie of the Year: November 16th

AL & NL Cy Young: November 18th

AL & NL Most Valuable Player: November 19th

I plan on posting a recap of each winner, along with a look at how well I did with my predictions, in a blog entry after each award is officially announced. So be sure to check back for that at some point next week.

Recap of My Votes for the 2015 MLB Major Awards

Over the past week, or so, I’ve been typing up individual posts on who I feel most deserves the awards of American League and National League Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player. I was planning to post the awards for each on back to back days, with a day in between, but I decided to publish them on six consecutive days instead.

Some of the choices were easy, while others took a great deal of debate. But in the end, I went with my gut of who I feel deserves each award the most.

In case you missed a few (or all) of my Major League Baseball award posts, I wanted to do a brief recap. Although there are a couple of picks that people will likely disagree with, this is just the way I would vote if my vote had any say.

Here are my picks that I made for each category:

American League Rookie of the Year: Carlos Correa

National League Rookie of the Year: Kris Bryant

American League Cy Young: David Price

National League Cy Young: Jake Arrieta

American League MVP: Josh Donaldson

National League MVP: Bryce Harper

Feel free to click the links associated with each award to be taken to my post on it, giving the full reasoning behind my picks. I’m planning to post a blog entry covering the winners of each award when they’re announced towards the middle of next month, comparing my original picks to the winners and giving my overall thoughts, so be sure to check back for that when the time arrives.

My Vote for 2015 N.L. Rookie of the Year

As I stated in my American League Rookie of the Year post, watching young players succeed upon their first year in the majors is always fun. Though it never guarantees that any given player will carry that early success throughout their career, it’s always a good indication of which players are going to be stars for years to come. We certainly had a fair share of those type of players in the National League this season, with players such as Justin Bour, Joc Pederson, Matt Duffy, Jung Ho Kang, Kris Bryant and Noah Syndergaard all having seasons worthy of recognition. However, in the end, only one player can win the coveted Rookie of the Year award.

Joc Pederson began the season on a tear right out of the gate, but he saw a tremendous downfall in his stats as the season went on, especially in the second half. His 25 home runs are impressive, but his .210 average (the lowest of all National League rookies) is definitely not. Therefore, he won’t be getting the award.

Another player who had a noteworthy season but not an award worthy season is Matt Duffy. All season long, Duffy was an impactful player for the Giants, notching 76 RBI’s all while hitting a cool .296, but he doesn’t even finish in the top three or four in my mind.

Likewise, Jung Ho Kang (15 homers and a .287 average) and Noah Syndergaard (3.24 ERA with 166 strikeouts) each had a big impact on their respective teams, but neither of them will take home the top rookie honor for the NL. Even so, both helped their teams make the playoffs, and both should be big impact players moving forward.

Justin Bour would likely receive more consideration if he had recorded a higher batting average, as his 23 home runs and 76 RBI’s are impressive. Bour also held the unique ability of coming up big for the Marlins throughout the season, but there was one player in the National League who simply didn’t give any other player a shot.

There is absolutely only one choice for the National League Rookie of the Year award for 2015, and that’s Kris Bryant. Although he struck out nearly 200 times, Bryant came through for the Cubs more often than not this year. He was in fact a big reason they made it to the postseason, recording 26 homers and 99 RBI’s for 2015. As he begins to gain more experience, expect his numbers only to grow more an more. It’s truly amazing the talent level that Bryant possesses.