These Cubs Could Be Looking at Postseason Awards
We are at the midway point of August and the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders in Major League Baseball. As teams like the Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Washington Nationals start to drop out of the picture, the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburg Pirates, and Chicago Cubs have begun solidifying their holds on potential playoff spots. While anything can happen at this point, and no team other than the Kansas City Royals seem to be a lock, teams currently holding the leads in either divisional or Wild Card races should feel rather confident in their postseason chances.
While the playoff races are starting to become less hazy, so have the player awards like – CY Young, Rookie of the Year, and MVP – and the Chicago Cubs should have solid representation in those awards.
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta has pitched his way into CY Young consideration, having won his last three starts, which includes a scoreless streak of 18 2/3rds. Perhaps he hasn’t impressed as much as LA Dodgers Zack Grienke and his 45 2/3rds scoreless streak, but he has been equally dominate in a tougher division.
“Buster [Posey] told me he’s one of the toughest pitchers he’s faced,” Miguel Montero said.
Buster plays in the same division as Zack, and also has to face the most dominate pitcher over the past five plus years in Clayton Kershaw.
Posey isn’t the only person impressed with Arrieta, MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac thinks Arrieta has as good a shot as anyboby.
“This is [Arrieta’s] breakout year,” Plesac said. “If the Cubs stay relevant in the next six to eight weeks, and I really think they are, this guy is going to lead the brigade… There is a lot of baseball left to be played, but [Arrieta] has pitched himself into the mix.”
That he has, pitching to the tune of, 14-6 record, 2.39 ERA, 162 IP, and 163 strikeouts, Jake appears to be a top five pitcher in the National League. Is top five enough to take home the award?
While Vegas online sportsbook Bovada currently has Jake Arrieta behind several NL pitchers, Plesac mentions the only oNE wit a real adVantage is Grienke.
Even with a mountain of guys ahead of him – Grienke, Max Scherzer, and Garrity Cole – but with his continued performance there is no doubt he would catapult himself higher in the race.
Anthony Rizzo has been the underdog all season long. Whether his attempt to get into the All-Star game (which he took part in), or just being recognized as a top hitter in the National League, Rizzo has been chasing some prolific hitters all season.
For the better part of 2015 Rizzo has been following in the shadows of first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez and Paul Goldschmidt. As far as MVP, they are all chasing the flamboyant Bryce Harper.
Adrian Gonzalez AVG .292 OBP .366 SLG .525 OPS .891
Paul Goldschmidt AVG .334 OBP .447 SLG .570 OPS 1.017
Joey Votto AVG .310 OBP .437 SLG .538 OPS .975
Anthony Rizzo AVG .296 OBP .386 SLG .527 OPS .913
While Rizzo may trail Votto in base numbers alone, the fact that Rizzo’s production is helping a team with a 16-game lead on Votto’s Cincinnati Reds pushes Joey out of the conversation for best first baseman in the National League. That leaves Rizzo, Goldschmidt, and Gonzalez as the NL’s big three first baseman.
Adrian Gonzalez. If you removed Adrian from the Dodgers there are still a number of players that have provided enough offense to keep the Dodgers in playoff contention. If you removed Rizzo from the Cubs lineup everyday it would be far fetched to assume the team would still be in the position they currently find themselves. Finally, while Gonzalez’s 2.4 WAR is impressive, Rizzo’s 5.5 WAR rates add the sixth highest in the National League.
Finally there is Goldschmidt. Paul is beating out Rizzo in every offensive category, besides home runs, and Goldschmidt’s WAR checks in at 1.4 points higher (6.9) than Rizzo. Where Rizzo stands out from Paul is, winning. While Goldschmidt has had a remarkable season, Rizzo had the Cubs in the thick of the playoff race, notching the league’s fourth best record, while playing in baseball’s most competitive division.
While these players are having great seasons, they all might be looking in the rear view mirror of Washington’s Bryce Harper. Harper already has 30 homers, an OPS of 1.083, a WAR of 7.1, and has been the front runner all season.
What could be hurting Harper of late is this, the Nationals are 12-20 since the allstar break, and 5-12 in August alone. In their last seven games they are 1-6, including a six game losing streak.
On July 120th, the Nationals were 47-39 and in the drivers seat in the National League East. Today they sit for games behind the New York Mets, and eight games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.
If the tailspin continues and Rizzo’s production is a huge reason why the Cubs see continued success, could that be enough to turn the heads in the MVP voting? He had his manager’s vote.
“It’s one of the most impressive first halves I’ve witnessed since I’ve been doing this,” Maddon said after the Cubs’ three-game sweep of the Mets at Citi Field. “He’s extremely consistent. He hits all kind of pitching. He’s one of the few hitters in the big league that has a legitimate two-strike approach.”
Of course Maddon would back his guy, but the 10th place finisher in the 2014 MVP voting has put the entire league in notice. Rizzo’s at bat in Tuesday night’s rain delayed game verse the Detroit Tigers was a perfect example of what Rizzo means to the Cubs.
https://youtu.be/Cj_HGjyA7hM
While it would be tough to dethrone Harper, since he is having a borderline historic season, Rizzo would be the guy that could.
Both these Cubs stars might be underdogs in each of their respective award categories, if they keep going out performing at a high level and winning, they very well can steal votes from the front runners and take home the coveted awards.
Sources: USA Today FTW, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times
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