Written by Brandon Higgins
The first round of the Major League playoffs is over, and my predictions for everything have basically been cremated by the baseball gods and placed in an urn of shame.
In an attempt to redeem myself, I’m going to give my predictions for the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards for each league. I’ll start with the National League and then move into the American League. Let us begin.
NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals — There’s really not much discussion on this pick. For the majority of the season, Pujols was the most dominant player in all of baseball, and he carried the Cardinals on his back for the entire first half of the season. If you look at the definition of what the MVP is, it is the player in the league who was most valuable to his team. Without Pujols, the Cardinals don’t sniff the playoffs this season.
His .327 average, 47 home runs and 135 RBIs had him flirting with the NL Triple Crown for the majority of the season. He also led the league in slugging percentage, runs scored, OBP and OPS. Add that to the fact that he hit five grand slams and set the Major League record for assists in a season by a first baseman, and there’s really no contest for the award.
People may try to make arguments for Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder, but they just don’t have the all-around game and value that Pujols has. He’s put himself in a league of his own, establishing himself as the best player on the planet.
NL Cy Young: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals — This was an unbelievably tough choice, as all the major candidates had convincing statistics. Chris Carpenter led the league in ERA with an eye-popping 2.24 and had a 17-4 record. Tim Lincecum is a media darling who struck out more than a Mark Reynolds’ worth of batters while holding down a 2.48 ERA.
However, Adam Wainwright was the most consistently dominant pitcher in the league for the entire season, especially in the second half, when the Cardinals needed great pitching to aid a stagnant offense during the stretch run of the playoffs.
Wainwright led the league in wins and innings pitched, which are both huge to Cy Young voters. Sure, he had eight losses, but he allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of those losses, and he had multiple wins taken away by his bullpen. He also struck out more than 200 batters and finished fourth in the league in ERA at 2.63.
Oh, and by the way, he was 12-1 on the road this season with a 3.39 ERA, and he allowed more than three earned runs in just seven of his 34 starts, including a streak of 13 consecutive starts of two earned runs or fewer while pitching six or more innings.
AL MVP: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins — From the moment Mauer stepped on the field this season, he put the Twins on his shoulders and carried them to the postseason. For crying out loud, the guy hit .365 and led the league in hitting as a catcher. In case you didn’t know, that just doesn’t happen. He also hit 28 home runs and drove in 96 runs despite not playing until May 2. He, like Pujols, also led the league in SLG, OBP and OPS. My apologies to Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, but nobody in the league was more valuable to his team than Joe Mauer, and it’s going to be hard to convince me — and the voters — otherwise.
AL Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals — No contest here. If you win 16 games and only lose eight for the Kansas City Royals, you have made your mark as the most dominant pitcher in the game.
Greinke led the Majors with a 2.16 ERA, which is just silly. He also struck out 242, tossed six complete games, threw more than 200 innings and led the league in WHIP. If he doesn’t win the Cy Young, there is something wrong with the system because he was the best pitcher in all of baseball for most of the season.
