By Kyle Soppe
Detroit Tiger closer Jose Valverde has converted all 39 save attempts this season and the last 2 save attempts in 2010. The 41 straight successes are impressive, and rank him fourth all time. However, he isn’t even half way to the all time mark of 84, set by Eric Gagne from 2002 to 2003. An interesting note: Valverde has surrendered 18 runs over the streak, 6 times as many runs Gagne gave up over his stretch of dominance.
Red Sox relieving ace Alfredo Aceves has a good staff in front of him, a powerful lineup, and great arms behind him. So it is no surprise that Aceves plays a part in many victories. What is shocking, however, is that the Red Sox seem to always score in support of the reliever. Of his last 25 decisions, 23 have been wins. That broke an MLB record for most wins in any 25 decision stretch that had stood for 131 years.
Justin Verlander reached the 20 win mark, and we are still in August. He is the quickest pitcher to the milestone since Curt Schilling in 2002. Verlander is tops in the majors in k’s (218), wins (20), and could make a late push in ERA (2.38). He would be the first pitcher to win the Major League Triple Crown since Johan Santana accomplished the feat in 2006.
Another blurb on Verlander, although I don’t believe this is something we have to worry about. The last pitcher to win the MVP was Dennis Eckersley, who benefited from the lack of a standout hitter in 1992.
That standout hitter is the Yankees Curtis Granderson. Granderson has scored 121 times so far this season, an amazing 26 more than second place Jacoby Ellsbury. You would have to go back to the 1985 season to find a disparity at least that large, back when Ricky Henderson outscored the field by 28 runs. The amazing part here, is that Granderson is only batting .278 this season, some 36 points lower than Henderson. Another statistical disadvantage for Granderson, making his amount of runs scored that much more impressive, was that Henderson was in scoring position after a walk (the man stole 80 bases). Granderson has only swiped 24 bags, meaning the bats behind him have consistently come through when he is one base.
Continuing on Granderson spectacular, and unique, season, I examined the most steals by the MLB leader in RBI’s. Now teammate Alex Rodriguez stole 24 bases while leading the majors in RBIs during the 2007 season. Assuming Granderson can surpass that, he only needs one more steal, and can hold his RBI lead over Adrian Gonzalez (107-103), he would become the first RBI league leader with 25+ steals since Jose Canseco put together a 40-40 campaign in 1988. If you are of the belief that the scrawny Granderson isn’t juicing, the last time a “clean” player accomplished the feat was Joe Carter in 1986.
David Price struck out 14 Blue Jays on Sunday, setting the franchise record. He struck out at least 2 batters in 6 of the 7 innings he pitched, and K’d 10 of the first 14 batters he saw.
Mark Reynolds is 21 strikeouts behind league leader Drew Stubbs. He still ranks 3rd in the league in most number of punch outs, but this should be seen as progress. Ever since the Baltimore hacker became a MLB regular in 2008, he has led the league in number of K’s. Don’t rule out a late season surge, but it looks as if he will avoid the season golden sombrero.
Michael Bourn leads the league in stolen bases, and is batting a respectable .302 on the season. If he can maintain that average, it will be the highest batting average by the league leader in SB’s since Juan Pierre batted .305 in 2003.
Lastly, this would have been the 62nd anniversary of the Montreal Expos, who became the first MLB franchise outside of the USA. The Toronto Blue Jays want to pay tribute by stealing signs, and still losing 85 games.
Hahaha – tres bien.
Kyle? Did you have to initiate another Verlander love fest? Let’s all hold hands and sing kumbaya.
hahaha. i gave you your Expo love. had to please every one 🙂
Re: Granderson vs. Henderson, keep in mind that Granderson has already driven himself in 14 more times than Henderson did that year. A .376 OBP, 38 HR, 20 2B, 10 3B, 24 SB, and a bunch of good hitters behind him: that’s a pretty good formula for scoring a lot of runs. 26 more than anybody else…there’s got to be more than a little luck involved too.
Alfredo Aceves was 14-1 for the Yankees from 2008-10 before he even joined the Red Sox.
Does Granderson draw more walks than the average player? How does a .376 OBP compare to the rest of the AL? I see what you mean about guys driving him in. Had no Idea that Robinson Cano had that many ‘ribbies’
Kyle —
If Verlander wins 25 games, ya might very well have to “worry about” him getting lots of MVP votes to go along with his Cy Young.
I agree that Granderson is having a fantastic season … but before we single him out as an obvious MVP choice or anything like that, let’s all remember that his runs scored and other stats are also quite the byproduct of being in an outstanding offensive line-up with the Yankmees. He is having an MVP discussion-type season, but I don’t see him as a clear front-runner or anything like that … yet. I also think September performance will go a long way to determining who the MVPs are in each league.
There is no clear front-runner for the AL MVP, Wally. Even Jose Bautista is not ruled out yet, and there are three potential candidates on the Red Sox, although they may possible cancel each other out.
Rey: Granderson is 13th in the AL in OBP, so .376 is very good, but not great. He’s 11th in BB%, so yes, he walks far more than the average player.
He’s also 7th in K%, so that could work against him. Adam Dunn, of course, is first.
Adam who?
I meant Adam Done. 😉
Helmet Sticker.
At the risk of being chastised for bringing this up after it’s already been discussed, what is the case against Verlander as MVP? Is it that some writer’s simply won’t vote for a pitcher and or that people think a pitcher is undeserving because he may not play every game?
I’m looking at it from the perspective of which player would be most detrimental to the team if he was removed. This actually works very well in basketball, but I don’t see it holding up in baseball. Looking at it from that perspective, could one argue that the Tigers would be behind the Indians or White Sox in the standings? Look at what he’s done against AL Central opponents. All of his losses came against AL West foes with his only loss outside of that being the ChiSox. Take away Granderson or Bautista, and where would their teams be? Wouldn’t the Yanks still be sitting in a playoff spot? I know this also rehatches another argument on here about penalizing those players having MVP seasons on non-contending teams.
I don’t know what the consesus is on all of that but thought I’d share my two cents anyway.
Personally, i view the MVP as a hitters award and the Cy Young as the pitchers equivalent. It is impossible to say where these teams would be without their best players. They have tried to come up with stats like WAR (wins over replacement), but the MVP will continue to be a hitters award. The Tigers are 21-8 in Verlander’s 29 starts. They are just about .500 when he doesn’t start. It’s not as if Verlander is the only time Detroit wins. Lets say they continue this winning at their current rate with a replacement pitcher. Then they would be 67-67, which would put them 1 game behind the White Sox. Granderson doesn’t at least equal that “valuability”?
I definitely see your point, I was just asking. It’s tough because the Cy Young is so respected in baseball. I was wondering because if a pitcher has a bad game, it could single-handedly change the result whereas if a great hitter has bad games, the rest of the team could hit well enough to get the win. It’s a ridiculous argument, I know, but it begs the question of most valuable. I know it’s impossible to say where they’d be but it’s still fun to speculate.
Rey —
Great questions you’re asking! Don’t let Kyle fool ya. A pitcher such as Verlander can and will win the MVP award … If not this year, then in the future. Clemens won the award back in mid ’80s. One more month to go, but if Verlander ends up 24-6 or so, I think he’s got a great shot at pulling it off.
On another note, some people stayed up long enough to witness a typical Yankmees – RedSox marathon which just finished in about 4 hours flat. NY wins 5-2. Wow … 4 hours to score 7 runs! Reportedly, this time only 9 fans at the game died of natural causes during the contest … A season low.
Wally, i just dont see your boy Verlander winning it this year.
And yea, those Yankee/Sox games are crazy. 2 meals, maybe a nap, and a HW assignment, and youd still be back in time for the 7th inning stretch. The news gets worse. Beckett and his average of 27 seconds between pitches is on the mound tonight. The game is at 7pm, and i work til 1030-1045. I am expecting to see at least the last 3 innings. These games have truly become a night long event.
What city or area do you live in, Kyle?
Anyway, I don’t know who will win … but a pitcher (reliever or starter) seems to win it once every decade or 15 years. Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersely. See … we’re due for another one. But, he’s got to have the stats to back it up … a truly exceptional season. If he ends up 25-5 with a 2.25 ERA and that unbelievable WHIP … AND the Tigers win the division … he’s gonna get a lot of votes. Just sayin’ 🙂
hahaha. didnt say hed get shut out. or that he doesn’t deserve consideration. Just stating that i don’t believe hell win it