AL and NL MVPs

I've got to think Stanton still gets quite a few votes.

 

Kershaw faces two obstacles. One is the idea that pitchers shouldn't win the MVP. Another is that he missed some time as well.

 

I would think the former is a bigger obstacle than the latter because he's done so well at making up for lost time. He's tied for the lead in wins, fourth in strikeouts, the clear leader in ERA, leads in WHIP.

Also, the fact that offensive numbers are noticeably down probably helps him with the people who don't think a pitcher should win.

 

There's a chance the Dodgers and Giants are tied going into tomorrow's game -- and Kershaw starts.

 

All reasonable. One argument against pitchers is the limited number of games during which they contribute, so perhaps having missed a few starts will hurt his cause more with some voters.

Couldn't the fact that offensive numbers are down also hurt Keshaw's case. His numbers are just ridiculous, but is their impact reduced because offense is down everywhere. He isn't event he only pitcher in the majors with an ERA below 2.00. Chris Sale is at 1.99.

 

Yeah, I considered that fact. I just keep coming back to the fact that I just think he's been the most dominant player this year for what he does.

I'd compare his season to Ron Guidry's 25-3 season in 1978. And I'll grant that Guidry didn't win MVP, but there aren't any 46-homer, 139-RBI offensive seasons out there this year like Jim Rice in 1978. I just have to figure that in most seasons other than 1978 (but not all) that Guidry wins MVP.

And as we consider the V in MVP, it's incredibly valuable to his team that he averages slightly more than 7 1/3 innings per start. That takes a ton of stress off the bullpen. Just guessing here, but I'd bet that's somewhere around 3-4 fewer outs the bullpen has to get compared to the average of all other starters.

 

No doubt, his ability to go deep in games helps, but that is where I would consider the games he missed. As great as he has been, he did not help his team at all for a stretch of the season because he could not.

I'd still lean toward Stanton or McCutchen, but Kershaw wouldn't be a bad choice. McCutchen hasn't been as dominant as Stanton or Kershaw, but if the Pirates make the playoffs in spite of all that has gone wrong with that team, he has to be considered.

 

What about the other major awards? Anybody other than Trout for AL MVP? Felix Hernandez for AL Cy Young? Obviously, Kershaw is a lock for NL Cy Young.

 

A pretty good point, but look at Kershaw's gap over Cueto, the No. 2 guy in ERA: 1.67 to 2.15. WHIP: 0.82 to Cueto's 0.96.

 

Oh, there is no question he is far above every other National League pitcher. I'm just saying those numbers might not be quite as impressive as they would have been in a season with more offense.

 

The bottom-line numbers do not do justice to how unbelievable Kershaw has been.

If he had called in sick May 17, his ERA for the season would be 1.33, the second-lowest of the post-1920 era behind Gibson. (Gooden has the second-lowest at 1.53.)

He allowed seven runs in 1 2/3 innings that night.

In all of June, he allowed four runs. In all of July, five. In all of August, eight.

Today should be a barrel of monkeys. In 11 career games in San Francisco, he has an ERA of 069. Yuck.

 

Unfortunately for him, that bad start counts, too.