The Award Race

At the end of every month I’ll look at all the award races and give you updates on who I believe should be the front runner for each race. So with out further ado lets get right into it.

AL MVP-

Winner- Josh Hamilton

Now before everyone freaks out lets take a look at his numbers. He has a .336/.386/.582 line and has 11 walks to only 13 strike outs. He leads the majors in Hits, RBIs and Total Bases. He is also in the top three for home runs, runs created and doubles. Defense shouldn’t be lost either as he is in the top five for zone rating and outfield assists.

Runner Up-Manny Ramirez

Close to Hamilton in almost all the stats and leads the league in OPS. Doesn’t get the nod though because of defense and isn’t as much of a threat on the basepads. Its very close though and while Hamilton has the feel good story on his side Ramirez has the better team on his side. It will be interesting to see how that plays as the voting goes on.

NL MVP-

Winner-Chase Utley

While a case could me made for several guys, Utley takes the early lead with his impressive home run streak. In addition to the streak he has a league leading .776 slugging percentage, 85 total bases and 11 home runs.

Runner Up-

Chipper Jones

If it wasn’t for Utley’s home run spree early on Jones likely would have been the pick. His .410/.455/.690 line shows that he has been on an absolute tear. Chippers key to staying in the race will likely just be health. When healthy Chipper has proven over his career to be as good as it gets but he hasn’t been healthy for a full year in quite some time.

AL Cy Young-

Winner-Cliff Lee

Who saw this one coming? Its not even close too. Lee leads the league in ERA (.96), Wins (5) and has a sweet 16 strike out to walk ratio. Guys are only hitting .150 off of him and has only a .41 WHIP!

Runner Up-Joe Saunders

How bout another who saw this one coming? Saunders belongs on the list though so far as he also has five wins and only a 2.08 ERA. While he doesn’t have the dominate strike out ratio (4.15 per 9) he does have the low batting avg against (.204) and low WHIP (.95) that are required for this list.

NL Cy Young

Winner-Brandon Webb

The ace on the team with the best record in baseball is a good start. He leads the league with six wins and has a solid 1.98 ERA. His strike out numbers are better than normal (7.46 per 9) and still has the same great control (2.43 k/bb) that you come to expect with him.

Runner Up-Edison Volquez

At the start of spring training he was fighting to make the team not even thinking about a Cy Young but he has quickly found himself with that possibility. I have watched two of his starts and he definitely has the stuff to stay on this list. He attacks the lower part of the zone and doesn’t give into hitters. His 1.23 ERA leads the league and his 4-0 record along with his great 10.13 strikeouts per 9 gives him the numbers to back up his stuff.

AL Best Rookie

Winner-Evan Longoria

He was held down the first few weeks of the season but still finds him self at the top rookie in home runs and fourth in RBI’s. His .273/.388/527 line is very impressive and his .936 OPS is top among rookies.

Runner Up-Jacob Ellsbury

While he doesn’t get to play every day he takes advantage of all the time he gets. He leads all rookies in home runs and stolen bases. His 1.86 walk to strike out ratio is great for a rookie and just what you look for in a lead off hitter. If he continues to see his playing time increase he could challenge Longoria for the title as the season moves on.

NL Best Rookie-

Winner-Geovany Soto

He could be the best catcher in the national league right now. Anytime you could be the best at your position in your league and your a rookie you probably have the rookie of the year on lock down. He leads all rookies and catchers in home runs and RBIs plus his .333/.427/.621 line is extremely impressive no matter who you are.

Runner Up-Joey Votto

While some may think Kosuke Fukudome should be here I find it hard to believe a 31 year old with nine years of professional experience should be considered a rookie. Even if I didn’t factor that in to my decision Votto would still be my choice. Votto is second in home runs and RBIs following only Soto and has a solid .308/.341/.538 line. As the season goes on Votto should continue to see lots of playing time and will get a chance to possibly challenge Soto for rookie of the year.

AL Relief Pitcher

Winner-Mariano Rivera

You want your closer to just come in and close the door. No one has done this better in their career than Mariano Rivera and this season is no different. So far this year he has 11 innings pitched 11 strikeouts, no walks, only four hits and no earned runs to go along with his eight saves. Not a tough sell.

Runner Up-Joakim Soria

Soria has been just as impressive this year as Rivera, but is just a few saves short and that is the reason he finds him self as the runner up early in the season. His stats are about as good as it gets so far 11 inning pitched, three hits, no earned runs and 13 strike outs to just one walk.

NL Relief Pitcher

Winner-Billy Wagner

Wagner has been lights out and retired 27 straight hitters to start the season. That alone is enough to put him on the top of the list but the great six to one strike out to walk ratio, 0.42 WHIP and zero ERA makes this a open and shut case.

Runner Up-Brad LIdge

Lidge has been almost as good as Wagner in the early on. The only real thing separating the two are a few hits and Lidge’s two to one strike out to walk ratio versus Wagner’s six to one ratio. This is still about as good as it gets though and he may be the missing link the Phillies needed to get over the hump.

AL Mangager

Winner-Bob Geren

The Oakland A’s skipper will get the nod for now since his team is tied for first in the AL West with a offense that is in the bottom half in batting average, total bases and several other offensive categories. Geren is the early leader because of a solid showing by the pitching staff. He should enjoy the lead while it last though, the offense isn’t going to get much better and hoping for the entire staff to keep this up all season might be a little much to ask for.

NL Manager

Winner-Tony La Russa

La Russa seems to just win where ever he goes. His Cardinals lead the NL Central even though they probably have the third maybe even fourth most talent roster in the division. La Russa has pushed all the right buttons so far and his style of always going with the match-ups has paid off so far in the early part of the season. With the possibility of Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder coming back from injury and call up of stud prospect Colby Rasmus this team might get even better as the season goes on.

Note on Manager Award Race:I’m just going to pick a winner for now. Its to early in the season to truly know how much of an impact or good job a manager has done.