Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander feels pitchers deserve MVP recognition – MLB News
The Detroit Tigers’ star performer Justin Verlander has raised his voice for all the Major League Baseball pitchers to also be recognised as Most Valuable Players.
The league’s trend as not to consider pitchers eligible for the MVP award has made newly crowned Cy Young winner Verlander to speak for them. He himself is in the limelight of the 2011 MVP class for his all round tremendous performances for the Tigers last
season where he showed some excellent pitching skills and helped his team to play in the American League Championship series against the Texas Rangers.
Verlander was present in a tele-conference over a discussion for winning the 2011 American League Cy Young award and said, “Pitchers are on the ballot. We are players, I’ve talked about it.”
Tigers’ team manager Jim Leyland also spoke in the media last week where he stated, “He definitely deserves it, I hope he gets it. I hope (voters) adhere to the policy which they go by. And if they do, I think he’s going to get it. If a pitcher's allowed
to win MVP, he should definitely win it.”
The case for MLB pitchers for not winning the MVP award is logical as they play less regular and post-season games as compared to other position players. This shorter playing time also affect the pitchers’ season stats which are a primary source for any
manager and coach in a voting panel to determine who the best and most consistent player is for one particular year.
Despite the fact that many pitchers do not receive the MVP award, but still they make baseball more thrilling. A home-run no doubt sparks the baseball field instantly but a good pitching session from opposition for any team is lethal in every game.
The recent comments from the Tigers ace on pitchers winning this award certainly weigh some logic and verbalise the prevailing sense of MLB’s executives considering pitchers for MVP. Verlander’s speaking on behalf of his pitching team-mates certainly boosted
the chances for all the pitchers to win this precious recognition in the near future.
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