Justin Verlander, starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers has been named the American League MVP, 2011. The question is: is a pitcher worthy of winning an MVP title? This has been a lingering issue since the five-man rotation and introduction of the Cy Young Award. Playing only one out of every five contests has been the Achilles-heel of the pitchers MVP campaign every time. Is this a valid claim?
Well, my philosophical opinion is that a pitcher has to be far and away the best candidate on the ballot - not just a bail-out pick because two other viable options are too close to call. A pitcher’s statistics need to be sound all the way through: WHIP, ERA, W-L, etc. The statistics for a pitcher need to be more scrutinized and validated than any other player to be considered MVP-worthy.
Furthermore, the intangibles need to be considered. While pitchers win games with the help of run support and a solid defense, nothing is more harmful to a pitcher’s confidence than a series of lackluster defensive performances by his teammates, not to mention the disappearing act by the ball club’s offensive presence. There needs to be a critical evaluation of all aspects that determine a pitcher’s value. Who’s to say that other pitchers didn’t perform at the same level but had the misfortunes of being on a less successful team?
It seems to me that the Baseball Writers Association of America has a tough job to go beyond mere due diligence to confidently vote on the MVP. IF they do and ONCE they find the most deserving player TO BE the pitcher, then by all means…
So do you agree with the vote in this specific case or not? I agree that it's gotta be an out of this world season to justify giving a pitcher the MVP. For me I really try to focus on the "Value" part of the MVP award; which team could obviously not survive without this player's performance. Verlander had video game numbers on a team that nearly got to the Series. Take him off the roster and the Tigers potentially finish out of the playoff race. He's deserving.
ReplyDeleteIn this case.... tough decision and in my mind he was in the running so, yes. Tough because of Bautista's ridiculous numbers.
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