Two MVPs and a Cy Young

by jonk on Apr 23, 2008 6:36 AM EDT

And yet, the Phillies are just 10-9? How is that possible? Their pitching has been decent, and yeah, while Howard has struggled, their team OPS is close to .800. Their pen has been better than expected too. We can point our fingers to defense as I did last week, but, come on, responsible for a barely above .500 record? It seems like it is just bad luck.

So far, here are the lines of our MVPs:

RK	PLAYER	TEAM	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Chase Utley	PHI	84	18	30	9	1	9	20	2	0	8	12	.357	.429	.810	1.238
2	Pat Burrell	PHI	70	14	25	5	0	7	22	0	0	16	17	.357	.471	.729	1.200

That will be as easy as it will ever be to create a chart since they are both 1 and 2 in OPS. So, who is the real MVP? Since defense is included, Utley is the choice hands down, though Pat has been solid in left. Looking at the numbers it would also appear that Chase is the offensive MVP. 9 2Bs and 9 HRs to Pat's 4 2Bs and 7 Hrs. Both are hitting .357 and chase has 38 points on Pat in OPS.

I think it is a tossup at this juncture. Neither is likely to maintain their .357 batting averages those Chase is likely to keep his above .300 while Pat can expect a round .280 at best. Pat's OBP is much more sustainable since he has twice the walks (though Utley has 4 HBP). When all is said and done, I think only Chase will be in the competition for MVP and obviously has a decent shot of winning it.

Cole Hamels:

PLAYER

TEAM

HLD

ERA

Cole Hamels

PHI

29.0

1.86

Couldn't get Cole's numbers to line up as nicely as Burrell's and Utley's, but it is good enough. Cole is 6th in ERA and I am not sure he is really chasing the guys in front of him. Smoltz has been out of his mind thus far, but I think he is too old to maintain this start (but I also thought he was too old to have this start). Sheets also has been a stud, but he is out to pasture again this year. Seems like the biggest competition are the usual suspects in Peavy, Webb, Santana and Lohse. Yeah, right, Lohse. Hamels has been good, but his strikeouts have been a concern. Not good enough to miss bats, but good enough to not let the opponent his the ball out of tha stadium as his GB/FB ratio is .85 this year but was 1.13 last year. That is a concern more than him winning the Cy Young, but him having a successful year. He has to cut down on the flyballs and turn them into strikeouts.

Teammates have ended the year 1-2 in MVP voting (the most recent, I believe, was the year when Kent beat out Bonds). Not sure if there has even been a 1-2 in MVP and a Cy Young winner (maybe a 1-2 if Lidge continues to have an ERA of 0.00).

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Phillies are 11-10. Also, it is possible because we have thus far suffered the lose of two mvps (Howard counts) and one tremendous center fielder (more glove than bat, but the bat is nicer than STG’s). That is a lot of umph to be taken out of a lineup which was built to support this team.

by Neduol Caz on Apr 23, 2008 9:09 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

That’s what I meant, it was late last night, will update.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Apr 23, 2008 10:12 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Also, Howard hasn’t been good, but he still has been getting on base at a decent clip and started off bad last year too. Werth has arguably been better than Victorino and actually on par with Rollins.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Apr 23, 2008 10:19 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Has any team ever produced back to back to back MVPs that were all different players? Would be crazy if Chase or Pat pulled it out this year…

by foos05 on Apr 23, 2008 10:11 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

Wikipedia says yes, if you trust them – it’s happened four times.

The last team to pull it off was the Yankees (who else?) from 1961-63, with Maris, Mantle, and Elston Howard.

The Yankees also did it in 1941-43 (WW2 years) with DiMaggio, Joe Gordon, and Spud Chandler.

In the NL, you’ve got the 1942-44 Cardinals (Mort Cooper, Stan Musial, Marty Marion) and the 1938-40 Reds (Ernie Lombardi, Bucky Walters, Frank McCormick).

There are two recent near-misses. The Big Red Machine won three MVPs in four seasons with Bench, Rose, and Morgan (1972-75). And the A’s won three in five seasons (1988-92) with Canseco, Rickey Henderson, and Dennis Eckersley.

by taco pal on Apr 25, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

I'd love to see Burrell win MVP

But I don’t think the Phillies could afford to re-sign him if he did. Chase is under contract though so that would be fine. :-)

by phatj on Apr 23, 2008 12:22 PM EDT reply reply 0 recs

has there ever been an MVP

who was regularly benched in the 7th inning? Maybe, but it sure looks bad.

"I am the Walrus?..... I am the Walrus." - Donny Kerabatsos

by The Navigator on Apr 23, 2008 3:36 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

DH’s have won MVP awards in the past, and they get benched for the entire game… makes Pat look good. But let’s be honest, I have as much of a chance of winning the MVP as Pat does.

by Neduol Caz on Apr 23, 2008 5:12 PM EDT up reply reply 0 recs

Both homered again tonight, FYI.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Apr 24, 2008 12:36 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

Par for the course

Isn’t this just par for the course for the Phils? The past several years they’ve features really amazing talent in many spots, both pitching and hitting, yet they’ve struggled to get any more than 87ish wins. Why? The team doesn’t know how to fill out the roster to support its stars. I thought this year might be a bit different, but so far it’s not shaping up to be so.

by David S. Cohen on Apr 25, 2008 9:50 AM EDT reply reply 0 recs

Well...

If you think there’s some sort of organizational problem that has been behind the typical slow starts, you could look at this season so far as very encouraging.

That is, if the Phils are over .500 at this point in the season despite whatever it is that holds them back every April, that bodes very well for the rest of the year. They won 89 games last year despite not breaking .500 until May 26.

by phatj on Apr 25, 2008 10:34 AM EDT up reply reply 0 recs