The Sweet Spot Awards: Part Three

PART THREE OF THREE

Most Valuable Player

American League: The pride of Anaheim can finally say that after three spectacular seasons, he has the most value in the American League. Mike Trout, the Angel’s 23 year-old phenomenon, has been nothing short of sensational. The five-tool player has astounded fans in virtually every aspect of his game and the case could be made that he hasn’t even hit his prime yet. He has led the league in runs for three straight years, has two (soon to be three) Silver Slugger awards and has captured the hearts of baseball fans everywhere. Now, after a season in which he hit for a respectable .287 average, crushed 36 homeruns, knocked in 11 runs and led all hitters with 7.9 WAR, Trout can finally take his much-deserved seat on the AL throne.

2014: Trout Season.

As fans, we all knew that this year would be special for the baseball world thanks to Derek Jeter’s season-long swan song. What we didn’t know was that we would get to experience a touching moment at the All-Star game when Jeter would be passing the figurative torch down to the new face of the game, Mike Trout. For the past 20 years, Jeter brought energy, excitement and jaw-dropping skill to America’s pastime. Now, fans get to witness a new rising-star become the face of baseball.

Passing of the torch.

Honorable mentions: Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox (.317 average, 36 HR), Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros (.346 average, 56 stolen bases), Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers (.335 average, 32 HR) and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners (2.14 ERA, 236 innings pitched).

 

National League: Like I stated in one of my previous blog posts, I believe that Clayton Kershaw is the LeBron James of baseball. Is he the best in the game? That remains to be seen. But if he continues on the torrid pace that he has been riding the past four years, then we just might be witnessing the best that the game has to offer. Kershaw has already won the Cy Young award twice in his career and will most likely be the unanimous pick for the award this time around. He is the first pitcher to lead the league in ERA for four consecutive seasons.

Four years straight and no signs of stopping.

Some people might say that the MVP should be reserved for hitters, after all, pitchers have their own prize in the Cy Young. My issue with that argument is that the award is for the Most Valuable Player. Pitchers act as players in the game just as much as anyone else. If they hold more value than any hitter, why should they be ruled out?

Soaking it all in.

This race should be a lot closer than that of the American League. While I would cast my vote for Kershaw, Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins has had a MVP-deserving season of his own. Some might even call his numbers Trout-esque. The star outfielder hit 37 homeruns and drove in 111 runs even with an injury-shortened season. If only Stanton had played the last three and a half weeks with comparable numbers, he just might have dethroned Kershaw.

Honorable mentions: Stanton, Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates (.314 average, 25 HR, 18 stolen bases) Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants (.311 average, 22 HR) and Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies (.319 average, 82 RBI).

The push for increased Spanish translation in Major League Baseball

It’s downright foolish that a billion-dollar industry wouldn't have the financial capacity to hire translators for a massive percentage of their revenue source.

Yet here we are in 2014 and Major League Baseball is in that exact situation.

According to a study conducted by the Society of American Baseball Research in 2013, 26.9 percent of all players in Major League Baseball are Latino, many of whom consider English to be their second language.

Doesn’t it seem odd that almost a third of the players in our nation’s pastime are being overlooked to this day?

Carlos Beltran, proponent for added Spanish translation resources in Major League Baseball.

This issue has come up in the past with players voicing their frustration over this troubling conundrum.

Earlier this year, Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees was ejected from a game and suspended for having an illegal substance (pine tar) on his neck. After that game, the Dominican pitcher spoke with reporters in his broken English rather than his natural Spanish.

He was clearly uncomfortable as he stumbled over the few English words that he had in his limited vocabulary.

The drama came afterwards when his teammate, the prolific Carlos Beltran who grew up in Puerto Rico, angrily brought the topic up to those same reporters.

“It’s a problem because he can’t express himself the way he wants to,” Beltran said. “At the end of the day I know it’s a difficult moment for him as a person.”

Pineda stumbling through his presser after the notorious pine tar incident.

This problem is important because we’re not just talking about some annoying little hitch in the great game of baseball. This is the dismissal of the rights of almost a third of the players in the game.

Perhaps the strangest aspect to this problem is that the Yankees employ three full-time interpreters, all for the Japanese players on their team.

Did I miss something here?

Why do Japanese-speaking players get special treatment when it comes to their manner of communication?

Do Latino-born people have an easier time learning a completely new language?

It baffles me that this is an issue. What baffles me even more is that it can be totally eliminated with one simple solution:

Major League Baseball should be required to hire at least one full-time interpreter for each team. If the players don’t want to use them, they don’t have to. But at least give them the option and resources necessary for them to be able to communicate.

Bruce Chen translating for teammate Yordano Ventura.

After looking through the depth charts of every team in baseball, it is clear that virtually every single one has at least two Latino-born players, most teams with many more.

The number of Spanish-speaking players in baseball has increased steadily over the past 40 years and that trend probably won’t end any time soon.

Baseball is a beautiful game. Everybody should feel welcome, whether that means in the ballpark or in the dugout.

It’s really hard for somebody to feel welcome when they are denied their basic right of communication.

The Sweet Spot Awards: Part Two

PART TWO OF THREE

Cy Young

American League: Those who thought the king would relinquish his throne atop the league were sorely mistaken. In a season where six starters from the AL had at least 200 strikeouts, seven with sub-3.00 ERA and 17 with at least 200 innings pitched, only three pitchers boasted all three feats: John Lester of the Boston Red Sox/Oakland Athletics, Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

All three would have been fine recipients for the award, but King Felix is the most deserving.

All hail the King.

Hernandez had 28 more strikeouts than Lester (248 to 220), 16 1/3 more innings pitched (236 to 219.2) and allowed 24 fewer hits throughout the season (170 to 194).

Though Kluber was closer to matching Hernandez’s success than anyone in the league, he allowed 207 hits, which ranks ninth most in the league. He made up for most of them by averaging 10.27 strikeouts per game, but that awesome K/9 rate only goes so far when it comes to determining the best pitcher.

Hats off to the Cy.

Other notable pitchers who deserve recognition include Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers (252 strikeouts), Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox (2.14 ERA) and Phil Hughes of the Minnesota Twins (broke the single season record for having the largest strikeout to walk ratio).

National League: How can anyone dispute the fact that Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers is the best pitcher on the planet? He led the league in countless categories including ERA, runs allowed, wins, WAR, WHIP and no-hitters (technically he’s tied in this category, but his was the most impressive).

The best. 'Nuff said.

The only argument that one could have against Kershaw winning this award is the fact that he wasn’t even among the top 20 in innings pitched. While that case is valid, it almost makes Kershaw’s season seem more impressive. The fact that he gave the rest of the league a four-week head start and then dominated nonetheless justifies his case not only for Cy Young, but Most Valuable Player as well.

Adam Wainwright had a terrific season for the St. Louis Cardinals, as did Johnny Cueto for the Cincinnati Reds. There is no doubt about that. They each had 20 wins, more than 220 innings pitched and highly-respectable ERAs. However, they were in the wrong league in the wrong season.

Everybody expected Kershaw to take home the hardware this season with his killer fastball and legendary curveball, and he exceeded those expectations. Kershaw has led the league in ERA for four consecutive seasons, something that no pitcher has ever done before. At this point, it’s almost pointless to imagine anyone else taking the National League Cy Young award next season.

Kershaw after one of the most dominant no-hitters ever pitched.

In fact, I’m putting it on record:

Clayton Kershaw is the LeBron James of baseball.