Tuesday, November 6, 2007

if I had a vote, part 1

now that it's almost time for the 2007 baseball season individual awards to be handed out, i will make my selections as if i have a vote. obviously i don't have one, but if i did, here's how it would go for each of these awards, along with my predictions for what will actually happen.

NL Cy Young

1. Jake Peavy, 19-6, 2.54 ERA, 1.o6 WHIP, 223.1 IP, 240 K
2. Brandon Webb, 18-10, 3.01 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 236.1 IP, 194 K
3. John Smoltz, 14-8, 3.11 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 205.2 IP, 197 K

it's pretty hard to not give this to Peavy. i tried and everything, but his numbers are just too much better than anyone else. i don't have much more to say about this race. my prediction for what will actually happen is the same, except that i predict cole hamels will be #3.

NL Most Valuable Player

1. Matt Holliday, .340 avg, .405 obp, .607 slg, 36 hr, 137 rbi, 120 r, 11 sb
2. Chase Utley, .332 avg, .410 obp, .566 slg, 22 hr, 103 rbi, 104 r, 9 sb
3. Albert Pujols, .327 avg, .429 obp, .568 slg, 32 hr, 103 rbi, 99 r, 2 sb

the race is not between holliday and rollins. jimmy rollins is not even the mvp of his own team, let alone the entire national league. anyone that watches baseball knows that chase utley is the better pure hitter, and had he not been out for a month, his numbers would've been much better. look no further than the phillies record when utley was out (15-13), and then how they quickly got better (22-11) when he came back. he's that influential; rollins isn't. pujols is just sort of a bail out pick. he's got good numbers, but i could've probably just as easily picked russell martin or prince fielder. my prediction is holliday #1, fielder #2, rollins #3.

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Ryan Braun, .324 avg, .370 obp, .634 slg, 34 hr, 97 rbi, 91 r, 15 sb
2. Troy Tulowitzki, .291 avg, .359 obp, .479 slg, 24 hr, 99 rbi, 104 r, 7 sb
3. Hunter Pence, .322 avg, .360 obp, .539 slg, 17 hr, 69 rbi, 57 r, 11 sb

i don't think the race between braun and tulowitzki should be as close as it will probably end up being. Braun's rookie numbers, in terms of OPS and HR/AB ratio, are up in the Mantle/Pujols territory. really, that alone should win it for him. though that's not to say that tulo isn't a good player, because he is, and his defense is certainly far better than braun's. but i think braun more than made up for it with his offensive prowess, while tulowitzki's .479 slugging percentage is fairly pedestrian. my prediction is this same top 3.

tomorrow: part 2, american league

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