If Justin Verlander got a vote in the AL MVP race he knows who he would vote for and that would be himself.
“If I get a vote, me,” he told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday. “Yeah. Who wouldn’t [spend it on himself]? It’s not like I would just vote for anybody. But, yeah, if pitchers are eligible, and they clearly are, I would say I’m worthy of it. I wouldn’t say I should win it over others. I haven’t really delved into those numbers. So if I had a vote, I’d have to do my homework, but I wouldn’t discount my season.”
However, many analyst including Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports believe that it’s still a long shot that Verlander takes home the award. This is despite Verlander’s 24-5 record, his league leading ERA and strikeout total. The fact of the matter is only three pitchers have won it since 1968 which again makes it very unlikely that Verlander takes it home this year.
But just because it has only happened three times since 68′ doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen this year for Verlander.
Back in the beginning of August I wrote an article explaining why Verlander should get serious MVP consideration. At the time 13 of Verlander’s wins came after a Tigers loss and even then Verlander was winning a number of pitching categories including wins, strikeouts, WHIP, etc. To this very day once again Verlander still leads or has taken the lead in a number of starting pitcher statistical categories.
But one of the biggest requirements that Verlander had fulfill before he truly could be considered to the AL MVP was helping get his team to the playoffs.
That’s something you can now check off the list.
The Tigers (with help from Verlander) ended up turning the AL Central race into a total blowout. The Tigers eventually clinched the division last Friday in Oakland leaving Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox in their dust.
Much of the argument against pitchers winning the MVP Award is that they already have an MVP Award in the Cy Young and that starting pitchers don’t play every day like position players do.
Now if you want to classify the Cy Young Award as the pitchers MVP Award that’s fine, but the last time I checked pitchers were in fact players which in turn would make them eligible for the MVP Award. And yes it’s true starting pitchers don’t pitch every day but when they do they are involved in just about every single defensive play on the field.
When it comes down to it, the AL MVP will probably go to a position player like Curtis Granderson or Adrian Gonzalez, which to tell you the truth I would be ok with. Both players have been spectacular for their teams this season and would certainly deserve all the accolades that go their way. But just how valuable to their team are they? If you remove them from the lineup would either players absence truly hinder their team’s success? You could make a good assumption that Boston and the Yankees would still be very successful with both of those players out of the lineup. Verlander on the other hand has been such a staple with the Tigers this season that if you remove him from the lineup, this team and record looks drastically different.
Verlander isn’t holding his breath for the award which is probably smart considering the MVP Award is given to the most exceptional player in baseball and not necessarily the most valuable player.
Re: Yahoo! Sports
