With the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series a couple of weeks ago, the MLB season has come to an end and with that, the annual bestowal of awards for outstanding players, showing us who has played the best over the past year.
The Giants’ impressive young ace Madison Bumgarner won the World Series MVP, but it is worth mentioning again simply because of how dominant his performance was.
The Manager of the Year awards were won by Matt Williams of the Washington Nationals for the National League and Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles for the American League. The funny thing about this is both managers had identical 96-66 records for the year to pair with winning the same award.
Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians won the Cy Young award (given to the best pitcher) for the AL, while Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers won it for the NL. These were no surprise given how dominant the two were in their respective leagues. Kluber was 18-9 with a 2.44 earned run average and 269 strikeouts, while Kershaw unbelievably performed 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and 239 strikeouts.
Kershaw also won the NL MVP award this season, which is not surprising considering his record and stats.
On the AL side, budding superstar Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the MVP award with his 36 home runs, 111 RBIs, on-base-percentage of .377 and .287 batting average. With stats like that, it’s no wonder Trout won the award.
Trout also won the Hank Aaron Award (given to the best hitter) for the AL. Considering how well he is playing and the multiple awards he won at just 23 years old, Trout should be a star for years to come. Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins won the NL’s Hank Aaron Award, with a batting average of .288, 37 home runs, 105 RBIs and an on-base-percentage of .395. At age 25, he is another young star who should be winning awards for years to come.
Finally, the Rookie of the Year awards were bestowed to the best first-year players from each league. For the AL, Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox took home the award. The talented young first baseman had a batting average of .317, 36 home runs, 107 RBIs and a .383 on-base-percentage.
For the NL, impressive youngster Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets took home the award. The right-handed pitcher went 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA and 144 strikeouts. What made deGrom stand out from the crowd was his ability to get consistent strikeouts. He tied an MLB record by striking out the first eight batters he faced in a game against the Marlins, making him a very notable player and one to keep an eye on in the future.
With impressive young players like Abreu, deGrom and Trout rising through the ranks of the MLB, the league is ensured of worthy young stars for years to come.
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