MLBRT 9/12/2024

The questions and discussion…  

1) As of Saturday morning (9/7) Shohei Ohtani had 45 home runs and 46 stolen bases for the season and with 21 games left on the Dodgers schedule is all but assured of becoming the first MLB player evert to slug 50 home runs and swipe 50 bases in a single season.

If Ohtani’s quest to become the first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases becomes a reality does that accomplishment lock up the NL MVP for Ohtani? Why or why not?

If Shohei Ohtani completes the first 50-50 season in MLB history, he’s an automatic lock for National League MVP with absolutely zero competition.

I think, at this point, if he doesn’t hit another home run or steals another base before season end, he’s still a lock to win the MVP. The fact that he turned a weakness into a different strength is absolutely incredible. Due to recovery from injury, Ohtani was forced to miss pitching this season. Without being able to play a lot in the field, or pitch every five days, he instead turned into a player who can swipe bases. The fact that he already has been the first to have a 45-45 season, he definitely deserves the MVP. He’s been a huge part of the Dodgers’ explosive offense this season. No competition for him, Ohtani is your 2024 NL MVP winner. 

For all intents and purposes Ohtani becoming the first player to ever reach 50 HRs and 50 SBs in a single season is all but a done deal.

As of Thursday morning (9/12) Ohtani had 46 HRs and 48 SBs and with 16 games left in the Dodgers schedule I will be shocked if he doesn’t reach 50 in each category.

Add in that he leads the NL with 104 RBIs and that his batting average stands at .292 and that he has an outside shot at winning the NL batting title and becoming a Triple Crown player… yeah, it’s a really outside shot he wins the NL BA title but if there is a MLB player who can get hot and pull it off I would not count out Ohtani pulling it off… and combined with the present state of his competition for the award in the NL for the award, I would say that if Shohei Ohtani becomes the inaugural member of the 50/50 club then he will without a doubt win the NL MVP award.

As the 2024 season winds down…

2) In a year that has seen a strong rookie class in the NL most sports sites see the NL Rookie of the Year award coming down to three-way race between Jackson Merrill (Padres), Paul Skenes (Pirates) and Jackson Chourio (Brewers).

In your opinion which player among these players wins the NL Rookie of the Year award? Why?  

I have to pick the player who can’t even drink a beer legally. The player who got a nice contract before he played an inning or recorded an at-bat in the majors. The player who’s had no experience above Double-A before making his MLB debut this season in Jackson Chourio.

Not only has he been extremely impressive all season, he’s batted .272 on the season, with 19 home runs and 20 stolen bases on the season, which would be incredible due to his age and experience level. While Skenes has been dominant pitching in Pittsburgh, I think what Chourio has done is more deserving. He’s played the entire season. He’s only 20 years old (3/11/2004 birthday).

Give it to the Brewer. 

Paul Skenes… he’s been one of the most hyped first round picks to come through the system in quite a while and for the most part has lived up to the hype, including being named the first rookie to ever start an All-Star Game the year after he was drafted in the first round. 

In his last start the 22-year-old Skenes won his 4^th straight game while lowering his ERA to 2.10. The win brought his record to 10-2. In addition he also fanned 9 to bring his season strikeout total to 151, setting a Pirates rookie record. That 151 strikeout total also makes him just the 4^th rookie ever to reach 150 strikeouts in 20 starts or less, joining other top rookie players Kerry Wood, Dwight Gooden and Mark Prior.

Overall when Skene starts for the Pirates the team has gone 12-7. But in all the Pirates’ games Skenes is not the starter, their record is just 53-67, making a case for Skenes that he is the Pirates most valuable player despite just being in his first year in  the Bigs.

Add in his 0.992 WHIP and just 31 walks in 120 innings and I think that earns Skenes the NL Rookie of the Year award.  

3) In the AL most sports sites have the top candidates for the Rookie of the Year award being Austin Wells (Yankees), Colton Cowser (Orioles), Wilyer Abreu (Red Sox) and  Luis Gil (Yankees).

In your opinion which player among these players wins the AL Rookie of the Year award? Why? 

Right now, Austin Wells is taking over my bid for the American League Rookie of the Year award.

When Jose Trevino went down around the All-Star break, Wells replaced Trevino and exceeded expectations, being a great third fiddle to Juan Soto and Aaron Judge in the Yankees’ line-up.

Between July 1 and August 29, he led catchers in WAR, wRC+, OBP while second in batting average. He’s batting .252 on the season, with 13 home runs and 50 runs batted in while also being a catcher. He’s drawn 41 walks to only 75 strikeouts which is impressive as a rookie, and a catcher at that, as well.

I think, with what he’s able to provide the Yankees in the second half, deserves nod for American League MVP. Cowser is very close, as he could be a Gold Glove winner this season for Baltimore. 

Austin Wells… overall Wells is slashing .252//342/.437 with 13 HRs and 4 9RBIs which for a rookie ain’t too shabby. Especially from the catcher’s position. However in his last 29 games, since Yankees manager Aaron Boone has mostly used Wells as the number four hitter in his batting order behind All-Stars and MVP candidates Soto at 2 and Judge at 3, Wells has slashed .310/.372/.531 with 6 HRs and 28 RBIs which is the main reason Wells is now being seen as the top rookie player in the AL. 

Also, since Wells got his chance to start in MLB due to catcher Jose Trevino being ILed he has developed into a trusted defensive receiver who is ranked 3^rd among all catchers in terms of Catcher Framing Runs (10) and 12^th with a 49% Strike Rate.

The fact that Wells  is a factor in the field as well as at the plate as the Yanks drive to win the East and being the top AL team in the playoffs makes him my leading candidate to wi nthe AL Rookie of the Year Award.  

4) Who wins the NL Manager of the Year award? Why?

NL Manager of the Year is Pat Murphy.

Not only has he brought the Brewers to having the best odds to win the World Series as of a couple weeks ago, but they’ve also had the biggest lead of any division leader in the MLB. They traded away Corbin Burnes in the off-season, they don’t have Brandon Woodruff for the entire season due to injury and only relied on Freddy Peralta to be their ace, who has actually struggled in the second half. They’ve dealt with Christian Yelich going out for the rest of the season. They’ve dealt with multitude of other injuries and haven’t spent a lot of money on any players. They don’t have many big names, but a lot of very valuable contributors who have all meshed perfectly together. 

The Brewers have a +124 run differential. That’s tied for the MLB lead with the Yankees and Phillies. They’re 8.5 games ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central race, which beats out the eight-game lead by the Phillies over the Mets. Give it Pat Murphy, who’s in his first year as a manager after Craig Counsell jumped ship and joined the rival Chicago Cubs this off-season. 

Carlos Mendoza.

For all intents and purposes rookie manger Mendoza was heading up a Mets team that was in a rebuilding year and destined to be a non-playoff team. In May they were 11 games under .500 and living up to the so-called experts expectations for their season.

Now…

The New York Mets have just won their 12th game in their last 15 played and now sit 80-66 and are in second place, eight games out of first behind the first place Phillies, in the NL East. But more importantly they are now the 3rd Wild Card team in the NL.  

The Mets started this season not so hot due to a combination of injuries across the board and certain star players not playing to their expected performance levels. Mendoza was a steadying influence throughout it all. He mixed and matched players to keep the team competitive and with a high rapport between the players themselves as well as with Mendoza and the team as a whole with the end result being there are right now a playoff team.

In short Mendoza has done an amazing job in a year that was a supposed to be a rebuild year and is my NL Manager of the Year.

5) Who wins the AL Manager of the Year award? Why?

My vote for AL Manager of the Year is Stephen Vogt, first year manager of the Cleveland Guardians. Not only has he led the Guardians to be the leaders of the AL Central, but he was doing it, again, with not a roster full of big names, big paid players. He also has never managed before. While he was an ex-player, last year was his only year of experience as an MLB coach.

With taking over the Guardians from Francona, he’s continued to keep them atop the AL Central over the Royals, who have been a surprise team this season. They haven’t let them down, have a +79 run differential, and there’s no way I could give this award to someone else. Who else has come in, with zero managing experience, and took a team who wasn’t projected to win the AL Central and will end up taking them into the postseason with a chance to go to the World Series.

It’s been an incredible run for both of the managers who are most deserving this season. 

Matt Quarto.

After losing 106 games last year, the Royals have already won 20 more games this year with several weeks to go. In his second season of being the Royals manager, Quatraro is engineering one of the biggest improvements in baseball history. If the Royals can win 15 of their final 21 games, they will tie the 1999 Diamondbacks for the biggest single-season improvement in baseball history – 35 wins. With a shot to break the record for best improvement  from one year to next if they win 16 of those games.

Simply put, this improvement greatly exceeds the expectations that most folks  had for the Royals before the season. Although the Royals were one of the biggest spenders this off-season, few observers felt the team was anywhere close to contention. Most projections had the team winning maybe 70 to 75 games.

Right now Quarto has the Royals positioned as the second Wild card in the AL. And that makes him my leader for the AL Manager of the Year.

Extra Innings…