2014 MLB Season in Review: Awards (Part A)

I am sorry about the extended absence. I have been extremely busy with baseball, work, school, and college applications. Hopefully, after my baseball ends (I am currently affiliated with three separate teams, which is pretty time consuming), I will be able to begin sending out updates more frequently.

The 2014 season, like every year, saw some players shoot to the top and others fall. Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Victor Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew McCutchen, Felix Hernandez, Chris Sale, Wade Davis, Adam Wainwright, Jose Abreu, and many more players put up huge years in 2014. Below is, in my opinion, how the AL and NL MVPs and Cy Youngs, should be handed out. Rookie of the Years, Reliever of the Years, and Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Years will follow in Part B.

American League Most Valuable Player

Winner: Mike Trout (Los Angeles A): 36 HR, 111 RBI, .287 AVG, 16 SB.

The Angels put up a huge turnaround season in 2014, overcoming the seemingly unbeatable A’s to finish with the best record in baseball. At the center was no other than the best player in baseball, Mike Trout. Though his batting average dipped from .323 to .287 between 2013 and 2014, Trout set or tied career highs in games (157), at bats (602), doubles (39), triples (9), home runs (36), and RBI (111), while leading the American League with 115 runs scored, 111 RBI, 84 extra base hits, and 338 total bases. As always, he played excellent defense in the outfield, even setting a career best with four assists. Trout may have been stuck behind Miguel Cabrera in years past, but this year, it looks like he has a clear path to the hardware.

Runner-Up: Jose Abreu (Chicago WS): 36 HR, 107 RBI, .317 AVG, 3 SB.

When Abreu signed with the White Sox for $68 million, fans everywhere expected big things. However, few expected him to be so good so quickly. In fact, one of the only things keeping him from an AL MVP Award of his own was his teammates’ performance, which led to the White Sox’ dismal fourth place finish in the AL Central. Abreu, having never played a game in the United States, absolutely raked in 2014, batting .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBI in 145 games for the Sox. A torrid three month stretch from June 15th to September 15th saw him bat .368 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI over 79 games. He led all of baseball with a .581 slugging percentage, well ahead of second place Victor Martinez (.565).

Honorable mentions: Victor Martinez (DET), Michael Brantley (CLE), Adam Jones (BAL), Jose Altuve (HOU), Felix Hernandez (SEA).

National League Most Valuable Player

Winner: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles D): 21-3, 1.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 239 K’s in 198.1 IP.

It’s rare that a pitcher wins the MVP, and even rarer that a pitcher who missed the entire month of April does so, but Clayton appears primed to break that trend. He earned 21 victories in just 27 starts, propelling the Dodgers to the NL West title. Aside from one horrible start on May 17th in Arizona, Kershaw put his team in a position to win each and every time he went out to pitch, only allowing more than three runs in that one start in Arizona. In fact, not including that start, he was 21-2 with a 1.46 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Kershaw led all major league pitchers with 21 wins, a 1.77 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP, and six complete games. His no-hitter on June 18th kicked off an incredible stretch where he went 5-0 with a 0.22 ERA and a 0.51 WHIP while striking out 55 in 41 innings. With Kershaw in the Dodgers rotation, the team knows that every fifth day, it will be in a position to win.

Runner-Up: Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh): 25 HR, 83 RBI, .314 AVG, 18 SB.

Last year’s winner played just as well in 2014 as he did in 2013, batting .314 with 25 home runs and 83 RBI. Though he failed to reach 20 stolen bases for the first time in his career (and broke a streak of three straight 20-20 seasons), he significantly cut down on his caught stealings, setting a career low with three after four straight seasons in double digits. He led all of baseball with a .410 on-base percentage while leading the National League with a .952 OPS. McCutchen carried an otherwise decent Pittsburgh offense all the way to the NL Wild Card Game, continuing to establish himself as the top five too threat in the NL.

Honorable Mentions: Giancarlo Stanton (MIA), Buster Posey (SF), Anthony Rendon (WAS), Adam Wainwright (STL), Josh Harrison (PIT).

American League Cy Young

Winner: Felix Hernandez (Seattle): 15-6, 2.14 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 248 K’s in 236 IP.

While Hernandez has put together quite the start to his major league career (he’s made over 300 starts and he won’t even turn 29 until April), 2014 may have been his best season yet. He set career bests in ERA (2.14), strikeouts (248), WHIP (0.92), and opponents’ batting average (.200), leading the American League in each of those categories, except strikeouts. He put up such a great season by significantly cutting down on his walks, allowing just 46 free passes, a career full season low. His career full season low of 170 hits allowed helped him smash his previous career best in WHIP, which was 1.06 in 2010, the other year in which he won the Cy Young.

Runner-Up: Corey Kluber (Cleveland): 18-9, 2.44 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 269 K’s in 235.2 IP.

One of the breakout stars of 2014, Kluber went from middle of the rotation starter to ace seemingly overnight. After going 13-10 with a 4.32 ERA over his first three seasons in the majors, Kluber burst onto the scene in 2014 by going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA over 34 starts. The Alabama native finished second in the majors with 269 strikeouts while tying for the American League lead with 18 wins. His season will best be remembered for his starts on July 24th and 30th, where he combined for 18 shutout innings on just five hits and no walks, striking out 18. That was the beginning of a five start stretch where he went 3-0 with a 0.46 ERA, a 0.64 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts in 39 innings.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Sale (CWS), Jon Lester (BOS/OAK), Max Scherzer (DET), David Price (TB/DET), Greg Holland (KC).

National League Cy Young

Winner: Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles D): 21-3, 1.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 239 K’s in 198.1 IP.

This award was decided a long time ago. See NL MVP for Kershaw’s performance breakdown.

Runner-Up: Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati): 20-9, 2.25 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 242 K’s in 243.2 IP.

From 2011-2013, Cueto established himself as one of the game’s better pitchers. However, injuries in both 2011 and 2013 kept him from reaching his true potential (in a healthy 2012, he went 19-9 with a 2.78 ERA). Luckily, he remained healthy for all of 2014, and set career bests in starts (34), wins (20), ERA (2.25), complete games (4), shutouts (2), innings (243.2), strikeouts (242), opponents’ batting average (.194), and WHIP (0.96). Incredibly, Cueto even managed to beat Clayton Kershaw in a couple of categories; his 242 strikeouts, which tied with Stephen Strasburg to top the NL, outpaced Kershaw’s 239, while opponents actually had a lower batting average against Cueto (.194) than Kershaw (.196). The .194 batting average against led all of baseball. Incredibly, Cueto managed to do all this while pitching in one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in baseball, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The Dominican-native went 13-4 with a 1.71 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP at his unfriendly home, the latter being the lowest home WHIP by any pitcher not named Kershaw. Cueto’s best start of the season came on April 16th, when he shut out the Pirates on just three hits, no walks, and twelve strikeouts over nine innings.

Honorable Mentions: Adam Wainwright (STL), Madison Bumgarner (SF), Zack Greinke (LAD), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Craig Kimbrel (ATL).

--

Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit TigersIf your team is not included, please leave a comment and I will add them.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman