Tag / Jose Fernandez

by admin

A Snuffed Out Star

For the second time in 4 months, a young pitching star in Major League Baseball saw his life tragically come to an end.  Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was killed in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic earlier this morning.  He was 25.

Ventura, who joined the Royals in 2013, was 38-31 with a 3.89 ERA in his career, helping the team to back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015.  His death comes on the heels of Marlins star Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident this past September.

I saw Ventura pitch 3 times, where he went 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA.  He had a bright future in front of him, if he managed to control his temper, but will now join the list of major leaguers tragically cut down in their prime.  My condolences go out to his family and the Royals nation.

by jim

BBWAA Award Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersThe Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season.  It is a good bet that none of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Chris Davis

Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, but I also picked the Angels to win the American League.  They dropped out of contention early, and I think the same can be said for Trout’s candidacy.  My guess is Miguel Cabrera, who was having an even better year than his triple crown winning season a year ago before nagging injuries dragged him down towards the end of the year, takes home his second straight MVP.

Cy Young Award: Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Max Scherzer

My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut.  While books have been written about how wins are not a reliable way to track pitching effectiveness, my guess is that if you add in a 20 win season with a trip to the post-season, Max Scherzer will take home the prize.

Manager of the Year: John Farrell, Terry Francona, Bob Melvin

I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  I imagine that Terry Francona, beloved former manager of the Red Sox, will take home the award for turning around a putrid Indians team and keeping them in contention for the majority of the year.

Rookie of the Year: Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias, Wil Myers

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  It is somewhat ironic, given the current value placed on young talent, that all 3 finalists for the award were traded to their current teams, one during this past season.  My guess is that Wil Myers will win the award.

National League

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