Buster Posey clinched the National League MVP award Friday night, and it’s a good thing his voice will be back to normal by the time he accepts the prize in November.
It’s not a requirement, but it sure helps a guy’s candidacy to be a good story, and Posey by far is the best story among the NL candidates. Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Braun, Yadier Molina and Chase Headley have had fabulous seasons, but what Posey has done borders on legendary.
In spring training, there were doubts he could catch regularly again, hold up over an entire season and be the overall player he once was.
Check, check and check.
He’s back to being Buster Ballgame, playing as if that May 2011 home-plate collision that derailed his season never happened. More boxes are waiting to be checked off. Winning the batting title. Playing deep into the postseason. And the biggest individual honor of all: winning the MVP award.
Friday, he solidified his campaign. He had a bout with food poisoning and threw up before the game. In the second inning, the catcher took a Ryan Vogelsong curve in the dirt to his throat, making it hard to talk, let along breathe.
It was a meaningless game, and it would have been easy to sit out, but Posey played all nine innings and tripled and doubled. He appeared before the media afterward -- others in that shape might have hid in the trainers’ room until reporters cleared out -- and in a raspy voice offered only two words: "I’m fine."
Combined with his numbers and value to the San Francisco Giants, particularly since Melky Cabrera walked out for good on Aug. 15, Posey is the easy MVP choice.
The five-tooled McCutchen, who has fallen behind Posey for the Melky-less batting crown, will have his MVP pursuit harmed by the Pittsburgh Pirates’ fall from contention, and Braun’s fate in the election, fair or not, could be linked to the news of his positive test for synthetic testosterone after he was named last year’s MVP.
Braun escaped a 50-game suspension, the same penalty handed to Cabrera for using the same drug, on a technicality. If voters feel bamboozled, it might show in their balloting this time around. Or, more likely, they’ll vote for Posey because he was more valuable to the Giants than Braun to the Milwaukee Brewers, considering his significance as a catcher and hitter in a pitchers’ park.
Plus, he’s a better story.
Speaking of a good story, the American League MVP race is a doozy, featuring the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout and the Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera. Trout is the majors’ best overall player, a master at defense (as a center fielder) and base running (as a leadoff hitter), not just hitting (for both average and power).
Sabermetricians love Trout because of his WAR (10 wins above replacement), but Cabrera quickly has gained on the 21-year-old rookie, whose numbers dropped the past two months while Cabrera is making a mad rush toward the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
Since Aug. 1, Cabrera is hitting .339 with a .408 on-base percentage and .662 slugging percentage compared with Trout’s .271/.367/.471. Cabrera, who OK’d a move to third base once Prince Fielder arrived, has the Tigers knocking on the postseason door.
The vote here goes to Cabrera, especially if he secures the Triple Crown and the Tigers make the playoffs. Either way, his strong finish gives him a slight edge over the Superman that is Trout -- and a larger edge over the rest of the pack, including Texas’ Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre and New York’s Derek Jeter.
INFO BOX:
John Shea’s picks for postseason awards MVP: Buster Posey (Giants), Miguel Cabrera (Tigers)
Cy Young Award: R.A. Dickey (Mets), Jered Weaver (Angels)
Rookie of the Year: Bryce Harper (Nationals), Mike Trout (Angels)
Manager of the Year: Bruce Bochy (Giants), Bob Melvin (A’s)
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