Tagged: Mike Trout

July’s MESPYs

Sometimes, the writing business is hard.  But when difficulty and despair creep in, I remember the fans, or more accurately, the fan who calls out for July’s edition of the MESPY (Matt’s Excellence in Self-Promotion Yada Yada) Awards.  Sniff.  That’s what makes it all worth while.

AL MVP:  Mike Trout.  Somewhere, Tim Salmon is crying, realizing the gig is up as the top fish to ever play for the Angels.  Trout put up a monster July, hitting .392 with 10 home runs, 32 runs scored (32!), 23 RBIs, and 9 stolen bases, just because he can.  His 2.8 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) was 33 percent better than the next highest in July, Ryan Zimmerman’s 2.1 WAR.

AL CY Young:  David Price.  WAR will tell you that Felix Hernandez had the edge, but that was due in large part to King Felix having one additional start.  Take that away, and the Price was Right snitches!

AL Rookie of the Month:  Trout.  I knew fish was brain food but I didn’t realize it made thinking this easy.

NL MVP:  Ryan Zimmerman.  Andrew McCutchen must be starting to feel like the Susan Lucci of the MESPY awards at this point, but Zimm edged the Dread Pirate in home runs, runs, and RBIs.  Also, McCutchen’s surprising total of zero stolen bases and Zimm’s edge in defensive metrics pushed Ryan over the top in WAR, 2.1 to 2.0.

NL CY Young:  Jordan Zimmermann.  After the July JZ had, I can’t help but wonder if the other Jaz-Z wrote A Star is Born about Zimm:

And I am one, of one

Can’t you see just how long my run?

NL Rookie of the Month:  It would be a real dogfight between Michael Fiers of the Brewers and Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (both 1.0 WAR), if it weren’t for Rizzo accumulating 153 at-bats last season with the Padres.  According to those fun-busters at MLB, that’s 23 too many to be considered a rookie.  Sigh.

Nationals’ MVP:  Ryan Zimmerman.  I guess I was talking about Zimm’s monster July around the office so much I shouldn’t have been surprised when I overheard management discussing whether cortisone shots would increase audit productivity.

Nationals’ CY Young:  Jordan Zimmermann.  Six starts.  Six quality starts, with four wins banked.  All he does is throw darts, though his xFIP (3.12) in July does leave some room for an upward ERA correction (.97 ERA in July).

Nationals’ Rookie of the Month:  Steve Lombardozzi.  No Nats rookie really shined in July, with Lombardozzi pacing all rookies with a 0.3 WAR.  But with Ian Desmond going down, Lombard has swung a nice bat and picked it on a pretty consistent basis.  I can think of far worse things.  Like being the sap donning the Teddy Roosevelt costume everyday, running around in a thousand-degree heat, never winning the Presidents race.  Yeah, that would make me hot and bitter.  Hot and bitter.

And that’s all folks!

June’s MESPYs

I’m in a celebratory mood this morning.  The Nationals rolled off another win last night, and in the process, put another curly w in the box score for Jordan Zimmermann.  Baseball is a funny, funny game. Zimm goes winless between late May and late June and now sees superlative pitching being rewarded in his last two starts, with the Nats offense knocking in 20 runs combined.  And of course, it’s our nation’s Independence Day, and while I still have time to write without IRS compulsion, what better way to celebrate than with June’s MESPY (Matt’s Excellence in Self-Promotion Yada Yada) Awards:

AL MVP:  Mike Trout.  Robinson Cano had a monster June, but on the day we celebrate standing up to the big bully on the block (alliteration!), I’m not going to shirk away from my disdain for the Evil Empire.  So it goes to Trout, who actually edged Cano out in WAR (Wins Above Replacement), 2.2 to 2.0.  And Trout did this at the tender age of 20.  Wow.

AL CY Young:  Hiroki Kuroda.  Dang.  Well, the British did give us the Beatles.

AL Rookie of the Month:  Trout.  I hate to be a Benedict Arnold on such a hallowed day, but what I said in May’s MESPYs hasn’t changed.  Trout has been baseball’s best rookie and at this pace, could be in the running for the AL’s best player by season’s end.

NL MVP:  R.A. Dickey.  Andrew McCutchen and Joey Votto both deserve kudos for tremendous months, but Dickey taking home the award just goes to show you how dominate he was during June.  He posted the second best WAR in baseball (2.1), a sub-one ERA (.93), a .60 WHIP, struck out 55 batters while only walking 8, and went 5-0.  Oh, and he did this throwing a knuckleball.

NY CY Young:  Dickey.  If only I had a Forever Lazy this would be the perfect day.

NL Rookie of the Month:  Andrelton Simmons.  Bryce, I still want to be your accountant.  But while you hit a bit of a soft patch in June, the Braves shortstop batted .333, showed slick fielding skills (alliteration!), and posted a nice 1.6 WAR.  I’m going to take a long walk off a short bridge now.

Nationals’ MVP:  Ian Desmond.  He crushed another one out last night off of Tim Lincecum, which was just more of the same for the Nats’ All-Star shortstop.  I’d like to think this is all because of my talk with Ian at Spring Training two years ago.  Oh, but he didn’t do so well last year.  I see.  My silence is golden.

Nationals’ CY Young:  Stephen Strasburg.  A 2.25 xFIP (Expected Fielding Independent Pitching) points to his 3.09 June ERA being unlucky.  But a 13.37 k/9 and six quality starts demonstrate that even without luck, Strasburg is simply dominant.

Nationals’ Rookie of the Month:  Tyler Moore.  I can see why I got into auditing and not public relations.  That depressing thought aside, in 68 fewer plate appearances, Moore had the same number of home runs as Bryce Harper (4), same number of RBIs (11), batted a robust .425, and topped Harper in WAR 1.0 to 0.6.  I hate myself.

And that’s all folks!

May’s MESPYs

For those daredevils who occasionally cross-over into the real world, May was a bear of a month.  The Dow was down more than six percent and the Nasdaq nearly seven percent.  And the unemployment picture got uglier as it seems five trillion in faux money doesn’t take you as far as it once did.  However, at least one wild-eyed entrepreneur in Miami was doing his part to reduce the unemployment rolls, and they still played baseball, though it would be just my luck that the year the Nationals contend, Nanny Bloomberg would try to ban them from winning because that would be a lot of joy.

On to May’s MESPY (Matt’s Excellence in Self-Promotion Yada Yada) Awards, while there is still time:

AL MVP:  Josh Hamilton.  Two months doesn’t make for a full season of health, but Hamilton is the first back-to-back MESPY award winner after posting another monster month in May (alliteration!), leading all players in baseball with a 2.1 WAR (Wins Above Replacement).

AL CY Young:  Justin Verlander.  The fact that Verlander only went 3-2 during May is further evidence that wins are one of the most meaningless measures (alliteration!) of a pitcher’s success.  His 2.10 FIP in May actually indicates that he may have gotten a tad unlucky during the month (2.66 ERA).  Reserve CY has to go to Chris Sale of the White Sox, who if Robin Ventura hadn’t apparently suffered brain damage from the Nolan Ryan beat down, would have been the American League’s best starter in May.

AL Rookie of the Month:  Mike Trout.  Lost amid all the Bryce Harper chatter (heretic!), Trout has been baseball’s best rookie (traitor!).

NL MVP:  Giancarlo Stanton.  He just went back to Giancarlo because all of the home run calls sound better to the ladies.

NY CY Young:  Gio Gonzalez.  I knew Gio had been the good dirty during May, but I didn’t realize he was Pig Pen good.  All Gio did was go 5-0, lead the NL with a 12.66 K/9, and post a tidy 2.25 ERA.  I would be remiss not to give a Reserve CY to James McDonald of the Pirates.  You may not realize McDonald was second among starters in May with a 1.6 WAR, but that’s because no one watches the Pirates play, not even their moms.  Sigh.

NL Rookie of the Month:  Bryce Harper.  Lance Lynn edged Harper out in WAR, but for a contending team desperate for offense, Harper has been invaluable.  And I have a hunch that everyone else is just keeping the seat warm for the season-end award.

Nationals’ MVP & CY Young:  Gio.  Just goes to show you how much pitching has fueled the team’s early-season success with Gio taking home both awards one month after Stephen Strasburg accomplished the same feat.  During May, Gio posted a 1.2 WAR, with our reserve winner Ian Desmond the only player really coming close to contributing the same value to the team, with a 0.9 WAR.

Nationals’ Rookie of the Month:  Harper.  Thanks guys for making the end of this write-up so easy!

And that’s all folks!