The 2020 MLB regular season has come to an end, and with it comes playoff brackets, predictions, debates and discussions. However, we are going to save playoff predictions for another article. In this article, we are going to talk about the End of Season awards. Who deserve the Cy Young awards?, Rookie of the Year? Most Valuable Player??? All of these questions and more will be answered. These are my opinions after watching the games, looking at stats and reading others’ opinions.Â
Let’s start with probably the most difficult question which in my opinion would be the Rookie of the Year awards. This award goes to the best rookie in both the National and American league.
The best rookie in the National League is… I had to call a tie. The two options for me are Jake Cronenworth and Devin Williams. Jake Cronenworth is a second baseman for the Padres who hit .285, with 4 homers and 26 RBI’s in 56 games. This doesn’t seem like Rookie of the Year material, but he began the season as a utility player and became a very productive rookie. Devin Williams is a relief pitcher who pitched 27 innings, with 53 innings, and 4-1 record and a 0.33 ERA. Both of these players have great numbers and I look forward to watching them in the future.
The best rookie in the American League and the entire MLB is Kyle Lewis. Here’s why Kyle Lewis hit .262 with 11 homers and 28 RBI’s in 58 games played. He didn’t have a great September but that just shows other rookies had time to catch up and they didn’t. He finished the season leading all rookies in total bases, and was tied for homers.
The next award is the Cy Young award which is given to the best pitcher in both the American and National league. Jacob deGrom has won it in the past two years in the National League, Justin Verlander took it home last year.
In 2020, the American League Cy Young goes ta Shane Bieber. There is not much to say about his performance this year. He pitched 12 games with an 8-1 record, a 1.63 ERA, and 122 strikeouts. He only pitched 77.1 innings but struck out 122. That is an incredibly hard thing to do as a pitcher.
The National League Cy Young will be Trevor Bauer. He said it himself “I don’t know how you can see it any other way”. I do think Jacob deGrom is a close, close second and as much as I would love to see a back-to-back-to-back winner, you have to give respect where it’s due. Trevor Bauer deserves the respect he gets and then some. This year he pitched 11 games, with a 1.73 era, and 100 strikeouts.
The final award is the MVP award which is usually given to a position player who has propelled their team beyond expectations. This is given to a player in both leagues. Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger had the honors of MVP last year. Who will follow in their footsteps?
The National League MVP award goes to Freddie Freeman. Freeman led the majors in fWAR with 3.4, 51 runs and 23 doubles. He hit .341 with 13 homers and a 1.102 OPS. The runner-up was Mookie Betts and it was CLOSE. Betts was more than what the Dodgers could have asked for, and the Braves collapsing is the only reason he should win. He never stammered through all of his pitchers going down, and teammates struggling.
The American League MVP race is not as close, Jose Abreu wins it by a landslide. He led the majors in RBI’s with 60 and total bases with 148 and led the AL with 76 hits and slugging percentage at .617 while playing all 60 games. Abreu also crushed 19 homers and batted .317 and had a .987 OPS. This is the second most obvious Award pick behind Shane Bieber for AL Cy Young.
So there are my predictions for all MLB awards in the 2020 seasons. Every one of these players had historic seasons, and will hopefully have successful careers.