The Esurance MLB Awards annually honor
Major League Baseball's greatest achievements as part of an
industry-wide balloting process that includes five components, each of
which accounts for 20 percent of the overall vote: media, front-office
personnel, retired MLB players, fans at MLB.com and Society for American
Baseball Research (SABR) voters.
"It's an honor [to vote in the MLB Awards], and I'm looking forward
to it," said Hall of Fame right-hander John Smoltz, no stranger to
baseball's accolades season.
"I'm sure there will be some debate that comes out of it, and I'm
excited to be one of those judges that helps create the debate." • Who is #AwardWorthy? Vote now for Best Starting Pitcher
In addition to Best Starting Pitcher, individual awards will go to
the Best Major Leaguer, Best Everyday Player, Rookie, Defensive Player,
Breakout Player, Bounceback Player, Manager, Executive, Social Media
Personality and postseason performer.
Winners will also be recognized for the year's best offensive play,
defensive play, Moment, single-game performance, Social Media Post,
Celebrity Fan, Fan Catch, Interview, TV call, radio call, Player-Fan
Interaction, Video Board Moment and Trending Topic.
Deciding on one starting pitcher out of the 13 candidates is a
formidable task, given the remarkable performances in both leagues to
date. Through Tuesday, overall MLB batting average (.255), on-base
percentage (.317), slugging (.404), OPS (.721) and ERA (3.96) had
increased to 2011-12 levels this season. So that is the backdrop for
what the top starters have been doing, and looking at final leaders back
to 1968 speaks further volumes. Best Starting Pitcher: Keuchel
Dallas
Keuchel has had a breakout season, starting the All-Star Game for the
American League and using his stuff to notch a high GB rate
For the first time since Dwight Gooden of the Mets (1.53) and John
Tudor of the Cardinals (1.93) did it 30 years ago, MLB is in position to
have multiple pitchers with ERAs under 2.00. Greinke is at 1.61, and
Arrieta sits at 1.96. Meanwhile, Kershaw is back in Cy Young form
lately, and his 2.12 ERA is trending downward.
In '68, Gibson established the modern ERA record of 1.12, and he was
one of seven starting pitchers who were under 2.00. MLB lowered pitching
mounds after that season to increase offense. The only other times
since then that there were more than two starters with ERAs under 2.00
were in 1971 (Tom Seaver, Vida Blue and Wilbur Wood) and '72 (Luis
Tiant, Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton and Gary Nolan). The Gooden-Tudor
combo in 1985 marked the only other occasion of multiple sub-2.00 ERAs
going into this season.
MLB is also on track to finish the regular season with the most
(exclusively) starting pitchers below a 1.00 WHIP since 1968. Five are
on pace: Greinke (0.85), Kershaw (0.89), Arrieta (0.92), Scherzer
(0.95), deGrom (0.99). Keuchel (1.03) and Bumgarner (1.01) were among
many nominees close behind. Best Starting Pitcher: Arrieta
Jake Arrieta has put himself in the discussion for NL Cy Young by being near the top of the league in ERA and wins for the Cubs
In '68, Baltimore left-hander Dave McNally's 0.84 WHIP led a group of
nine pitchers (eight regular starters) below 1.00. Gibson was right
behind at 0.85.
Kershaw has won this category the last two years, topping Bumgarner
of the rival Giants in a two-horse race in 2014, 42.5 percent to 38.2.
Kershaw also finished right behind Detroit's Justin Verlander
in the 2011 balloting. Although Kershaw has been his old self again
lately, the award path is far less certain now, especially given
Greinke's dominance within the same rotation.
Some statistical arguments can be made that the award still goes
through Kershaw, the Majors' strikeout leader. According to FanGraphs,
he leads all starting pitchers in such categories as FIP (fielding
independent pitching), xFIP (expected fielding independent pitching) and
SIERA (skill-interactive ERA). In other words, an analysis beyond
"traditional" pitching stats still shows the Dodgers' lefty as a strong
candidate for a three-peat in this category. Best Starting Pitcher: Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw started off slow but used impressive control during a strong summer to make a case for his fourth Cy Young
If you like wins, then Arrieta is one away from 20 . . . and he has a
no-hitter to boot. If you like consistent leaders, then consider what
Keuchel has meant to an Astros club that spent most of this season
surprisingly on top in the AL West.
The Giants might not have a shot at repeating, but Bumgarner
certainly has carried over his dominance in 2015, with an 18-7 record
and 212 strikeouts heading into his scheduled start on Friday. And who
can forget Sale's record-tying stretch of eight starts with at least 10
strikeouts?
Voting will remain open through Nov. 13 by visiting mlb.com/awards. Winners will be announced live on MLB Network and MLB.com on Nov. 20.
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