Firebrand of the AL Mid-season Awards
Most Valuable Player: J.D Drew — .298/.405/.559, 16 HR (runner up: Mike Lowell)
FB states the obvious, siting Drew's ridiculous June and how he filled the production gap left by Ortiz... but I think you have to give Kevin Youkilis some strong consideration. Take a look at the stats:
Average: .319 (1st on team)RBI: 57 (2nd)
Runs: 55 (4th)
OBP: .386 (2nd)
Doubles: 25 (2nd)
Total Bases: 176 (T, 1st)
He's played 85 of the 94 games played and has been superb on defense, as usual. He also hits all over the lineup, and although many of the Sox have shifted around to fill in gaps, Yuke is by far the most versatile, batting in all but the 8th and 9th spot, while playing ist, 3rd and even RF twice...
Least Valuable Player: Julio Lugo — .264/.349/.327, 16 E (runner up: Mike Timlin)
"He gets on base an average amount of times and has a putrid 19 RBI on the year. He’s an automatic GIDP anytime he comes up with any runner on base. And in the clutch? Forget it. He and Coco Crisp are the antimatter of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez."
Well put Evan...
Saturn Balls Award: Dustin Pedroia — .313/.355/.459 (runner up: Jonathan Papelbon)
"Pedroia slumped during May and had a lot of people whispering about him. He’s still striking out a bit more than usual and hasn’t displayed his plate discipline he was known for, but at least he’s putting the bat on the ball, right? He’s also an extremely capable second baseman and always finds a way to get dirty by the end of the game. He personifies the phrase “Saturn Balls,” which was coined by Curt Schilling in 2003 about Bronson Arroyo."
I just like that they have a Saturn Balls Award...
Surprise of the Year: Javier Lopez — 34.2 IP, 2.34 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 8 holds (runner up: David Aardsma)
"...Lopez has started to come in more frequently in pressure situations and the general rule of thumb is that if you don’t hear about a person, he must be doing well."
While I agree that Lopez has been solid and a bit of a surprise, I think Jon Lester's emergence and Bartolo Colon's (short-lived) success should be in the discussion.
Lester has always been talked about as a potential solid No. 3 or 4, but while Matsuzaka was hurt, Beckett was not so ace-like and Buchholz was sent back to Pawtucket, this kid threw a no-hitter, more recently blanked the Yankees for 9 innings in The Bronx, and has held opponents to 3 runs or less in 12 of his last 14 starts. His 7-3 record does not do justice to the job he has done so far this year.As for Colon, I think signing him was a surprise in and if itself, but the fact when he stepped up and won 4 games while the staff was struggling with injuries, was a huge surprise... I mean serious, the guys had one leg in a Taco Bell uniform when Theo called him and he shows up 6 weeks later and goes 3-0 in his first three starts.
Click here for the full breakdown at Fire Brand.
Strong work Evan.
Photos: Yahoo!
3 comments:
I agree with Drew as the MVP. Youk has been amazing too but his numbers still sit behind Drew's because of that insane June.
As for surprise of the year, I've got to go with Aardsma. I had faith that Lopez would do well but Aardsma came from nowhere and barely made the team. Look at him now. Hitting his spots and lighting up the radar gun. Impressive.
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MVP Runner Up Mike Lowell? Are you smoking crack? How can you put him ahead of Youk? No no no.
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