Awards review
Cy Young: Porcello captures close vote, Scherzer easy winner
Sports Weekly examined the American and National League rookies of the year last week. USA TODAY Sports’ Jorge L. Ortiz looks at the other winners of Major League Baseball’s end-ofseason awards:
AL MVP
The winner: Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels
The vote: Trout received 19 first-place votes from 30 members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to outpoint Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts 356-311. Betts got nine firstplace votes to finish ahead of Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (227 points).
Why he won: Trout, who led the league in runs (123), on-base percentage (.441) and walks (116), batted .315 with 29 home runs, 100 RBI, 30 steals and a .991 onbase-plus-slugging percentage (OPS). He beat Betts in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in the FanGraphs.com version (9.4-7.8) and the Baseball-Reference.com formula (10.6-9.6). He had less offensive help than Betts, with the Angels finishing 10th in the league in scoring. Quotable: “At the end of the season a lot of people were asking me about the same question, you know, if your team has a losing record, is it going to hurt you in the MVP? With this MVP this year, I guess it doesn’t matter.” — Trout, on winning his second MVP award in three years.
NL MVP
The winner: Kris Bryant, 3B, Chicago Cubs
The vote: Bryant outpointed Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy 415-245. Bryant was named first on 29 of the 30 ballots, with Murphy collecting the other. Los Angeles Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager finished third with 240 points.
Why he won: Besides playing high-caliber defense at third, Bryant logged at least 55 innings at three other positions — left field, right field and first base — facilitating manager Joe Maddon’s pursuit of matchup advantages. And Bryant was also one of the league’s most feared sluggers, batting .292 with 39 homers, 102 RBI and a .939 OPS.
Quotable: “If it wasn’t for Anthony and his protection and guidance, I wouldn’t have won this award.” — Bryant, on teammate Anthony Rizzo, who finished fourth in the voting (202 points).
AL Cy Young
The winner: Rick Porcello, RHP, Red Sox
The vote: Porcello received eight of the 30 first-place votes, finishing with 137 points. The Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander totaled 132 points and the Cleveland Indians’ Kluber 98. Verlander had 14 first-place votes, but an 18-2 margin in second-place votes tilted the ballot Porcello’s way.
Why he won: Porcello (22-4, 3.15 ERA) had the highest number of victories in the AL since 2011, and his 5.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio led the league. The 27-yearold sinkerballer also finished right behind Verlander in WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) at 1.01. He had 189 strikeouts in 223 innings. He went at least six innings in 30 of 33 starts and allowed three earned runs or fewer 27 times.
Quotable: “I take a lot of pride in what I do, and I think the pressure I was putting on myself — and obviously there’s pressure playing in a city like that — it’s something that I almost couldn’t get out of my own way. That offseason I was able to kind of regroup mentally, refocus and take things the way I wanted to, and take them slow. Started with my foundation, my delivery, getting back to doing the basics and doing simple better.” — Porcello, who went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA in his first season with the Red Sox in 2015.
NL Cy Young
The winner: Max Scherzer, RHP, Washington Nationals
The vote: Scherzer received 25 of the 30 first-place votes for 192 points, outpolling the Chicago Cubs’ Jon Lester (102) and Kyle Hendricks (85). (Note: Postseason performance is not considered by voters for the awards.)
Why he won: Going 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA and 284 strikeouts, Scherzer led the league in two of the three Triple Crown categories, lagging only in ERA (eighth). He also displayed a rare combination of overpowering stuff, durability and a knack for keeping runners off base by pitching a league-high 2281⁄ innings while registering 3 the NL’s lowest WHIP at 0.97. He held batters to a .199 average.
Quotable: “I want to find a new way to be better. When I get to spring training, that will be my thing, to find a new way. But right now it’s all about celebrating what happened in 2016.” — Scherzer
AL Manager of Year
The winner: Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians
The vote: Francona received 22 first-place votes and was the lone candidate to be named on all 30 ballots. Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister received four first-place votes to finish second.
Why he won: Cleveland lost arguably its top player in Michael Brantley for nearly the whole season because of shoulder woes, then lost fellow outfielders Marlon Byrd and Abraham Almonte to drug-related suspensions. The Indians also suffered major setbacks in September when starting pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar went down with injuries. Yet the Indians took over first place in the AL Central in early June and never surrendered it, finishing 94-67, eight games ahead of the Tigers.
Quotable: “When something like this happens, if somebody thinks it’s an individual award, it’s the furthest thing from the truth. One, it’s players, incredible players. It’s front office, ownership, the coaches. The coaches work so hard every day, and I’m the one who gets to take a bow every once in a while. I wish we could do this together.” — Francona
NL Manager of Year
The winner: Dave Roberts, Dodgers
The vote: Roberts earned 16 first-place votes and 108 points, beating out the Cubs’ Joe Maddon (eight first-place votes, 70 points) and the Nationals’ Dusty Baker (four first-place votes, 66 points), who had won the award three times each.
Why he won: The injurydepleted Dodgers overcame a midseason eight-game deficit in the standings to claim their fourth consecutive NL West title as Roberts’ upbeat attitude and teamfirst approach spread through a clubhouse previously regarded as fractured.
Quotable: “You always want to remember what it’s like to be a player, and becoming a coach and a manager, to have your manager reach out and physically put hands on you every day, I think it sends a message that your care, you’re thinking about them.” — Roberts, to MLB Network