So now that I’ve posted my End
of the Year Award winners, I thought I’d take my readers through my thought
process, see the others I considered for each award and explain why I chose who
I chose. I’ll continue with the
Willie Mays Award (Rookie of the Year).
In the National League, it came down to three people for
me. The first was the obvious
choice, Bryce Harper. The second
was Todd Frazier. And the third
was the guy I ultimately chose, Wade Miley.
Todd Frazier was Cincinnati’s everyman. He played all over the field and did a
nice job. His numbers were good,
hitting 272 with 19 HR, 67 RBI, 55 R and 3 SB. But as good as the numbers were, what really put him in the
running was the way he stepped up for the Reds when Joey Votto went down. Votto was out for the majority of the
second half, and Frazier didn’t miss a step, taking over first base and keeping
the Reds not only in the running, but also helping them race to the top of the
standings to win the Central.
There’s no replacing Joey Votto, but Frazier did a fantastic job and
they were unaffected by the loss of their best hitter. As solid as his numbers were, what
impressed me the most was the way he kept his team in it and didn’t miss a beat
stepping in for the best hitter in the National League as a rookie.
Harper was the popular choice to win, and he had a great
year for the Nationals. He hit 270
with 22 HR, 59 RBI, 98 R and 18 SB.
Those numbers are pretty fantastic. He came up to a club that was leading the NL East, and took
over, hitting second in the order and doing everything they asked of him. I was very impressed with his year,
like I expected to be. And no
offense to Todd Frazier, but Harper just out hit him and was easily my runner
up. He scored almost 100 R, hit
over 20 HR and stole 18 bases. We
could see a new member of the 20/20 club next year. Harper was great, but was only second in the running in my
book.
The player who got my rookie of the year vote was Wade Miley
of the Arizona Diamondbacks. I
always think it’s harder for pitchers to get it going early in their careers
than hitters. And Miley was not in
an easy situation in Phoenix.
After losing Daniel Hudson, their number 2 starter for the year, the
Diamondbacks asked Miley to step up, and he did in a big way. He won 16 games for a 500 team in Chase
Field, which isn’t the friendliest pitchers park out there. But he plugged up the hole in the
rotation, eating innings and turning in a very impressive ERA in his first year
in the majors. I was impressed
with the young hitters in the NL, but the poise of this young pitcher is what
sealed it for me, making Wade Miley my Willie Mays Award winner for the
National League.
The AL was not close.
It was barely a race. No
offense to the other guys I considered, but I was ready to crown one of these
guys MVP over a Triple Crown Winner.
But I did consider others for a brief second. And those guys were Yu Darvish and Matt Moore. And of course, my winner, Mike Trout.
Moore played pretty well. He was another strong pitcher for a team of strong pitchers
in Tampa Bay. His 11-11 record was
solid, as was his 3.81 ERA. What
really did it for me was his ridiculous strikeout rate. He got 175 Ks in 177 IP. But as good as he was he wasn’t even
the best rookie pitcher in the AL this year.
That honor belonged to Yu Darvish of the Rangers. His numbers were a little better, but
are all the more impressive when you consider that he did half his pitching in
the Ballpark in Arlington, one of the best hitters parks in the majors. He went 16-9 with a 3.90 ERA and 221 Ks
in 191 IP. Other than the ERA,
those numbers are almost good enough to warrant Cy Young discussion. Unfortunately for him there were a
number of extremely good candidates for that race. But he came in second in this one. He threw almost 200 innings in his first season in the
majors, playing in the strong AL West.
He was arguably the ace of that Rangers staff and played a major role in
them getting to the playoffs. 16
Wins is impressive for anyone, much less a rookie. And with over 200 Ks, he was dominant out there. He was great. Moore was good.
Yoenis Cespedes played well in Oakland too, better than anyone
thought. But this race was won by
a large margin. And the winner was
Mike Trout.
Honestly it wasn’t even close. His team had the best record in the AL ever since he was
called up. He was my MVP, second
in the AL in AVG, first in SBs with 149 R and 30 HR and 83 RBI to boot. He played Gold Glove caliber center
field, while spending time in both corner outfield positions to help out the
team early on. He was the best
player in the AL, and happened to be a rookie too. That seals this award for him. Trout was my Willie Mays Award winner for the AL in the
easiest vote I had to cast this year.
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