I haven't done a post weekly MVP's Of The Day in the MLB since opening week and since I have been taking five minutes out of my schedule every night just to track this meaningless, fun award that I invented for the sake of this blog, I figure it's time to share some results along with a look back at the past week of action. The last week of action includes a game that I attended (Sunday's Cubs @ Brewers), another wild-pitch walk-off (San Diego @ Toronto) and the implosion of Washington's bullpen again. The deadline deals have begun with a bang (Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs) and some whimpers (Lucas Harrell to the Rangers) while all of the on-field action has taken place, so it's nice to catch up a bit with America's pastime.
July 22nd MVPOTD: 1B Miguel Cabrera
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| Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images |
The White Sox hate Miguel Cabrera with a fiery passion. The former triple-crown winner was on a small cold streak after making his eleventh career all-star team. July 22nd was the end of that short-lived stretch and the return of Miguel Cabrera:AL Central Destroyer. A 4-for-4 performance off of pitchers like journeyman Jacob Turner and the lesser Fulmer brother, Carson, led the Tigers to a 7-5 win in which Cabrera was responsible for three runs. Cabrera, who also walked once, has had huge moments against the division-rival White Sox before including his 300th career home run, exactly four years ago to the date, off of former Chi-Sock Phillip Humber. Cabrera is still an All-Star and still kills the White Sox.
July 23rd: SS Trevor Story
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| AP Photo/David Zalubowski |
Why? (4/4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 Runs, 1 SB)
One of three shortstops campaigning for NL Rookie of the Year (along with Aledmys Diaz and Corey Seager), Story has surprised me with his staying power. After he had one of the greatest first weeks for a rookie in MLB history, I just expected him to strike out a ton and for his ceiling to be a .260 hitter. After July 28th, he's still batting .271 and leads the ENTIRE NATIONAL LEAGUE with 27 home runs, as made possible by Coors Field. Now, the strikeout issue (128 of those bad boys) is still a very real problem he has and all signs point to him regressing like the mega-strikeout men of the past like Mark Reynolds. As long as he continues to have games like the one he did this past Saturday night, when his Rockies defeated the Braves 8-4, his rookie season will be seen as one of the best in the modern era.
July 24th: RF Yasmany Tomas
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| mlb.com |
Why? (3/4, 2 solo homers, 3 Runs in a one-run ballgame)
Sunday's 9-8 Diamondbacks victory over the Reds made me realize many things...
1. The D-Backs have a fun announcing duo of former Sportscenter host Steve Berthiaume and former D-Back manager Bob Brenly.
2. Jay Bruce's trade value will never be higher than it is at this very moment.
3. The Reds have already moved every starting pitcher they had last season to the bullpen (except for Anthony DeSclafani, who is somehow 6-0).
and 4. Yasmany Tomas is not quite the bust that some people seem to have already declared him to be and he really did just need some seasoning before he realized his potential.
There might not be any clear hope for either of these two teams at the end of 2016's tunnel but, at least Yasmany Tomas had a huge week and it's not like the Reds will keep Bryan Price as manager forever.
July 25th: 3B Adrian Beltre
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| LM Otero, Associated Press |
Why? (4/5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs, Walk-off homer)
Future hall of famer Adrian Beltre does not allow people near his head, for whatever reason, during the average baseball game. This Monday night thriller against the Oakland Athletics was no average ball game for Beltre. Not only did he get over the fence twice for home runs but, the second deep ball ended up winning the game in the bottom of the ninth, 7-6. Beltre was probably still ticked on the inside but, found the patience within himself to let this one act of fooling around by teammates that involved his scalp to go without dramatics. The Rangers extended their division lead on Houston that night and currently sit three games ahead of the Astros. When the A's ultimately get a disappointing return for closer Ryan Madson (who blew the save and took the L in this game) at this year's deadline, this will be the game that Billy Beane can blame that on.
July 26th: SP Tyler Skaggs
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| Orlin Wagner - AP Photo |
Why? (7 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's, 88 Pitches and a W)
As someone who drafted Tyler Skaggs in a dynasty fantasy league back in 2012, Tuesday night felt like a night that could have made my currently 5th-place season all worthwhile. Unfortunately, I dropped Skaggs, as I should have, after his 2014 Tommy John Surgery and figured we would reunite at a later date. Since there is only one lineup change per month in said fantasy league, I watched Skaggs throw the best outing of his career besides the 4 and 2/3 no-hitter that he exited in the last game we saw him on a major league mound with nothing riding on it whatsoever. He may not be as good as former teammate Trevor Bauer yet (someone I declared he would pass up early in their careers) but, if his last two outings are signs of anything, at least the Angels have another starting pitcher that they can trust for a few years. The Angels won 13-0 and could have had Mike Trout on the mound and it wouldn't have made much of a difference but, Skaggs gets bonus points for this being his first start off Tommy John Surgery.
July 27th: 1B Freddie Freeman
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| Jim Mone - AP Photo |
Why? (because it's okay for the Braves to have nice things every now and then)
It's clearly been a horrible Braves' season when even Freddie Freeman has been mostly forgettable at the plate due to DL-stints and just generally suffering from Evan Longoria Syndrome (Very serviceable player stuck on awful team, previously known as Ryan Zimmerman Syndrome). On Wednesday, Freeman struck gold while digging through this hellish season and went 4-for-4 at the plate with a walk, a double and a two-run homer. He was 100% necessary for Atlanta's 9-7 victory over their basement roomie Minnesota Twins as he was responsible for five runs crossing home plate. This game alone put him back on pace for a career-average Freddie Freeman season and though it may have weakened their odds at the #1 pick next season, they may be making up for that by dealing Lucas Harrell (3.38 ERA in 5 starts) and Dario Alvarez (28 K's in 15 IP) for another minor-leaguer (2B power-speed prospect Travis Demeritte). Freeman is the only piece on the Braves that seems safe from being traded and this game was one example as to why that is.
July 28th: 1B Mitch Moreland
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| Ronald Martinez - Getty Images |
For the second time this week, a Texas Ranger wins Player of the Day honors by hitting two home runs in a one-run game. Texas starting pitcher Cole Hamels could have received this award also but, I just felt that he needed to allow fewer than two runs in order to win this award and despite his 12-strikeout performance, Moreland was ultimately responsible for 66% of Texas's runs scored at home against Kansas City. In what was Yordano Ventura's first career complete game, Texas still managed to get the best of him thrice on solo home runs (the other coming from Rougned Odor). This game and the ever-growing list of injured impact players (Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Luke Hocheaver, etc.) have now added momentum to Kansas City's surprising seller mentality as they reportedly shop their best starter (Ian Kennedy) and best pitcher overall (Wade Davis). This season has not gone Kansas City's way but, it's still surprising to see last year's World Series champs so willing to break up key pieces of the current team.
MVPOTD Leaderboard
4 - Manny Machado
3 - Clayton Kershaw
2 - Madison Bumgarner
Miguel Cabrera
Carlos Correa
Josh Donaldson
Edwin Encarnacion
Freddie Freeman
Dae-Ho Lee
Brian McCann
Albert Pujols
J.T. Realmuto
Yasmany Tomas
Matt Wieters
Ben Zobrist
and then there's a ton of guys with just 1 MVPOTD win.
Good luck to your team the rest of the way and may the NFL's training camps go without too many severe injuries/storylines.
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