Pitchers Should Not Be League MVP’s
There is no way a pitcher should ever be named the MVP of the league, period. Look at Justin Verlander for example. Most experts have him as their Most Valuable Player this year. The Tigers ace is having an exceptional season, there is no doubt about that whatsoever. However, the fact remains that Verlander made just 33 starts this season. To his credit, that is the maximum amount of starts for a pitcher, but it still equals just one-sixth of the MLB schedule. How can you hand the most valued award in baseball to a guy who didn’t participate in 129 games for his team? Reason enough, there is an award dedicated to just pitchers every season…it’s called the Cy Young.
Justin Verlander’s numbers are not under scrutiny. He won the pitching Triple Crown! I am not disputing his utter dominance of the league. I am just as impressed by his magnificent season as anybody else. The righty accounted for an astronomical 24 wins of his Tiger’s 95 victories in 2011. Regardless, Detroit managed to win 71 games without their ace on the mound. It seems to me, if they threw any average starter out there for 33 starts, he’d be bound to win 7-10 games with such a supporting cast like Detroit’s. Therefore, with those 7-10 wins by some random starter, the Tigers would of still been eligible to win the AL Central Division and advance to the playoffs without Verlander. I understand their ace gave the team a certain momentum, especially when he started. Nevertheless, any way you look at it Justin Verlander played in just 33 of his teams’ 162 games. That doesn’t equate to a league MVP in my book.
The Most Valuable Player in baseball is dedicated to those players who battle in the trenches each and every day during the regular season. Sure, every player gets a few days off here and there, but the Cal Ripken-like “Iron Men” are extinct. Baseball is meant to be played every day. How can you not reward a guy who puts up gaudy offensive numbers, a solid defensive fielding percentage and plays every day? Ask any baseball players, they’ll tell you the same.
Let’s take a look at Verlander’s Tiger teammate Miguel Cabrera. The Detroit first baseman has been ignored this season, as far as MVP candidacy goes amongst so called “experts.” Miggy appeared in all but one game this season! Let me restate…He appeared in 161 of the Tigers 162 games in 2011. That is reason enough, alongside his crazy stats, to put him ahead of his teammate Justin Verlander for the MVP. Cabrera made a difference in each and every game he played. Sure, he may not of hit every game, but his presence in the lineup caused opponents to pitch him and his supporting cast differently on a daily basis. Each starter coming into games against Detroit has to adjust to Cabrera, let alone if they make a mistake to him in the game. Miggy batted an unbelievable .344 with 30 homers and 105 runs driven in for the Tigers in 2011. He scored 111 runs and was on base for his teammates an insane forty-five percent of the time. Those are MVP numbers.
Not to mention the defensive side, where Cabrera and teammates helped their pitchers out on a nightly basis with stellar defense. Cabrera started 152 games at first base. He exhibited a .993 fielding percentage and definitely saved a few doubles down the line off Verlander throughout the season. His defensive numbers won’t win him a Gold Glove anytime soon, but it is worthy of mentioning.
An every day player should always be considered for the league MVP of baseball, and only the every day players. Pitchers don’t appear in enough games, nor determine the outcome of enough wins to justify giving them the award. The Cy Young is predicated to appreciate the best pitcher in baseball annually. However, can an every day player be considered for the Cy Young at any point? Of course not, because it is just for pitchers. The MVP is strictly for every day guys who play defense for their pitchers and drive in much needed run-support for their hurlers. I just can not ever be convinced that a guy who plays in just one-sixth of his teams’ games can be considered the Most Valuable Player in any sport. No matter how incredibly dominant his numbers are, guys like Justin Verlander should not be eligible for the award. Time after time, the player who grinds it out from beginning to end contributes to more wins for his ballclub then any pitcher, even surefire Cy Young winners like Justin Verlander.
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Pitchers don’t play as many games, but they have much bigger impacts when they do play than hitters do. Verlander faced 969 batters this year, while Cabrera had only 688 PA’s. Also, your claims about Cabrera’s “stellar defense” seem somewhat unsubstantiated given that UZR, TZR, and DRS all have him at significantly below-average at the easiest position to play.
Neither of them is the MVP (that would be Bautista), but how can you say a pitcher shouldn’t win it when Verlander affected almost 300 more at-bats than Cabrera?
Thanks for the input, but your argument makes very little sense. I see that Verlander faced 969 batters this season. That’s great. That is typical for a guy who makes 33 starts. The entire Tigers pitching staff faced a total of 6,108 batters this season. So once again, Verlander’s work, no matter how great it was, is just a small sample size of what his entire staff did as a whole. Is it Cabrera’s fault he batted nearly four times in 161 games this season?!? Ugh, I think not. And how is Jose Bautista going to win the MVP with his team running in the middle of the pack? His batting average alone is .302, a far cry from Miggy’s insane .344 ba. I also acknowledge Cabrera made 13 errors at first base this season. But as I said in my article, he is not going to win a Gold Glove anytime soon, but at least he was out there for 152 games, defensively. Also, your forgetting how bad of a team Detroit would be if you took Miggy out of the lineup. You dont realize how much he changes the complexion of the batting order. If they didnt have Cabrera, Verlander wouldnt come close to 24 wins. It is the offense that the Tigers and Cabrera provided Verlander, alongside his sensational strikeout to walk numbers, including his whip. When a pitcher faces one-sixth the batters that his entire staff faced, I tend to lean toward giving the staff more credit. Thanks for the opinion
You also forget how much the set-up men and closer, Jose Valverde, help contribute to the success of Verlander. Justin didn’t throw 24 complete games this season. He had other guys helping him out. Who did Cabrera have helping him out this season? Brennan Boesch? Not a chance.
If you’re judging by wins and batting average, of course you’re going to come to incorrect conclusions. Try fWAR, which has Cabrera and Verlander essentially tied (Cabrera: 7.3, Verlander: 7.0—Bautista has 8.3, FWIW). Or rWAR (Cabrera: 7.1, Verlander: 8.5, Bautista: 8.5). Heck, even in WPA, which is inherently difficult for pitchers to score well in, Verlander (5.14) isn’t far behind the guy who probably will be MVP, Ellsbury (5.66), and he’s way ahead of another likely candidate, Curtis Granderson (2.86).
How does the fact that there were other pitches in the rotation hurt Verlander? Plus, it’s not like Cabrera was the only good hitter Detroit had. The Tigers’ team wRC+ was a solid 109, while their ERA- was an average 98. Take away Cabrera and the Tigers’ lineup is still at least league-average. Take away Verlander and the pitching staff becomes below average. So even if we use this unconventional measuring stick, it doesn’t work.
But again, if you want to judge players by wins, batting average, and errors, there’s not much I can do for you.
I am glad this era of baseball and sabermetrics has come upon us. Now people who know zip about the game can throw meaningless stats at people to make their points. Just sit and watch a game without any sabermetric stat fields. then tell me what you see. if you watched game 2 of the playoffs between detroit and new york, you’d clearly see the tigers won WITHOUT verlander on the bump. Miggy did most of the offensive damage and they won! what a crazy stat? wins!!! by the way, just so you know, the tigers are 84-0 this season when leading the game heading into the 9th inning. Verlander had nothing to do with that. The lights out bullpen of the Tigers did that. find that in your sabermetrics. The MVP will not go to a guy who hit 40+ hrs and led his team to a 4th place finish. Jose’s numbers were better last year.
What I like to look at for any player is where would their team be without them. I hate the Tigers with a passion but where would they be without Verlander’s 24 wins? They don’t win the division considering Verlander did pitch some games against the Tribe.
Johnny, I see where you’re coming from, but if you read the entirety of my article, you’d see where I said any average pitcher who made 33 starts for the Tigers this year would of won 7-10 games. I too hate the Tigers. I am a White Sox fan, please feel bad for me. So I get what you’re saying, but I cant take away from what I see on the field. If the Tigers threw their top prospect Charles Furbush out on the mound 33 times this season, he would of definitely won 7-10 times. Even a run-of-the-mill average MLB starter like Chris Capuano would of won 7-10 games. Therefore, take away Verlander’s 24 wins and just add those 7-10 minimum at best wins by some random starter and the Tigers WOULD OF STILL MADE THE PLAYOFFS AND WON THEIR WEAK DIVISION OVER CLEVELAND AND CHICAGO. Miggy makes their lineup what it is, Verlander just solidified it. Thanks Johnny for the opinion
Furbush is now a Seattle Mariner, just so we’re clear on why he didnt start all season for Detroit.
I like the Indians feel bad for me lol
Haha I feel for you man! Man, I feel for both of us liking teams in the AL Central. Pity us baseball fans everywhere