MLB April awards, the quick starters
Some players like April, some players hate it. Mark Teixeira hit .200 last April with three home runs and this season he hit .136 with two home runs. He just happens to start slow, but come year's end the slugging first baseman still produces the goods finishing 2009 with .292 BA, 39 home runs and 122 RBI.
That’s how baseball works; it’s a game of streaks and so we can’t really take the stats seriously yet but it’s still fun to hand out the monthly awards.
AL MVP – Robinson Cano, .400 BA, 8HRs, 18 RBI, .436 OBP, .765 SLG, 1.201 OPS
After coming through in 2005 the Yankees thought they had another star on their books, and after some ups and downs Cano is finally showing his worth. In his second season he hit .342 but in the following two seasons his batting average declined majorly, to .306 and then .271. The decline had the Yankees front office worried and when he hit .151 in April the season after the alarm bells really started ringing. Since then however, Cano has been one of the best second basemen in baseball and the April he has had this year puts him right up there with the front runners for the MVP. He led the Yankees in most important batting statistics for the month and his .400 BA was third best in the majors, with 50 or more plate appearances. The Yankees have always thought Cano has batting title potential and so far the Dominican is proving them right.
AL CY Young – Francisco Liriano, 3-0, 0.93 ERA, 27 SO, 0.97 WHIP, 2.70 K/BB
Liriano broke out in 2006 posting a 2.16 ERA with a 12-3 record and a 1.00 WHIP but since then the Minnesota Twins have been waiting for him to return to glory days. He missed the whole of 2007 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and until now hasn’t been able to replicate what he showed in 2006. In his first start of the season he gave up three runs in six innings of work, the only runs he would give up April. In his next three starts? No earned runs, five walks and 24 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched. The return of his slider combined with his high nineties fast means Liriano can now dominate hitters and so far no one has had an answer.
AL Rookie of the Year – Austin Jackson, .364 BA, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .422 OBP, .495 SLG, .917 OPS
He was the centre piece of the trade which sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees, and since then he hasn’t looked back. While Granderson sits on the disabled list with a groin strain, Jackson has started his major league career on fire and is by far and away the front runner for ROY in the AL. He led all rookies in RBI, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS and SB with 50 or more plate appearances, although he did have 32 strikeouts in just 99 at-bats. If he continues this way Detroit will have a centre fielder for many years to come.
NL MVP – Albert Pujols, .345 BA, 7 HRs, 19 RBI, .430 OBP, .655 SLG, 1.085 OPS
Ok so he’s not having his best April ever and he might not have the best stats in the league but his stats are soconsistent across the board that it’s hard to pick anyone else. He’s the best player in the majors and has led his team to a five game lead in the NL Central, what more could you want? He has slowed down a bit towards the end of the month but no team in the NL has a lead over one game apart from the Cards, would they have that lead without Pujols? Not in my opinion.
NL CY Young – Ubaldo Jimenez, 5-0, 0.79 ERA, 31 SO, 1.05 WHIP, 2.21 K/BB
The number of candidates for the NL CY Young isn’t exactly short and you could put the case forward for at least 10 pitchers, but there is one that really stands out in the month of April. Ubaldo Jimenez has been plain dominant and so far the National League has no answer for his 100mph fastball. He’s been so dominant in fact he’s already thrown a no hitter this year. There are a few concerns however. He doesn’t go deep enough in games, pitching beyond the seventh inning just twice in April and he only ranks 10th in WHIP. That being said until a team starts scoring runs off of him then the NL CY Young will be his this year.
NL Rookie of the Year – Jason Heyward, .240 BA, 6 HRs, 19 RBI, .360 OBP, .520 SLG, .880 OPS
So he has a low batting average but he hits for power, walks a lot, takes a tonne of pitches and has the second highest SLG and OPS. The Cubs’ Tyler Colvin leads him in the category but Colvin has 30 plate appearances less than Heyward. Unless he has an epic meltdown or season ending injury Heyward will win the ROY and if he gets his batting average up to around .300 he could even get some MVP votes come seasons end.
Tags: