MLB AwardWatch Week 12

Editorials and reviews for the modern human

2 July 2009 81 views No Comment

NL:

MVP: Albert Pujols… For former AwardWatch MVP candidate Ibañez, the Disabled List has been a pretty insormountable foe. A pretty big believer in OPS as a defining statistic of a player's skill, the SportsHuman has some pretty talented options at this spot, but Pujols still holds it down. Hanley Ramirez has the ability and is turning it on, so watch out for the next AwardWatch. One thing to note with Hanley: he has 12 stolen bases, but has been caught 7 times. He'll have to fix that if we wants some end of the season brass.

Cy Young: Tim Lincecum… The Dodgers looked like the unquestionable choice to win the NL West in the beginning of the season. They still look good, but thanks to some terrific pitching from Tim Lincecum and the rather unheralded Matt Cain, the Giants are making progress. It could be back to back Cy Young for the NL's leader in strikeouts. He gets it done, and its also fun to watch, a key ingredient in winning these sorts of awards.

ROY: Colby Rasmus… Rasmus has, in fact, risen above mediocrity to take this spot in the AwardWatch. Look out for Phillies' starter J.A. Happ, who happens to be pitching a lot better than staff-ace Cole Hamels, with an ERA sitting right at 3.00 and a record unblemished by that oh-so-undesirable letter L.

AL:

MVP: Mark Teixeira… Yeah, we guess he deserves it, but it sure is debatable. Ben Zobrist, Kevin Youkilis, and Torii Hunter (in addition to being an all-around star on defense and at the plate, he's a respectable basestealer) are all in consideration, and we at the SportsHuman also like Carl Crawford's stolen bases and high batting average.

Cy Young: Zack Greinke… He's cooled. Which basically means he went from awesomely, video-game hot to incredible hot. Halladay's injury won't help that guy's case, so for now, Greinke has it.

ROY: Ricky Romero… Romero has simply been the best rookie in the AL thus far. A little injury hiccup cost him some time and some ERA, but he has come back with a vengeance, unseating the shaky David Price with a sub-3 ERA.