Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Nationals Right Fielder Jayson Werth, got some credit in tonights Most Valuable Player Voting. He finished 13th out of 24 players that received votes.
He received 1 7th place vote, 2 votes for 8th and 9th, and 6 votes for 10th place overall. According to the point system Werth finished with 20 points, which was good for 13th best.
Werth received votes from the following writers, Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington, Bill Center (San Diego), Rob Biertempfel (Pittsburgh), Derrick Goold (St. Louis), C.Trent Rosecrans (Cincinnati), Bruce Miles (Chicago), Henry Schulman (San Francisco), Jayson Stark (ESPN), Mike Puma (New York Mets), Tom Haudricourt (Milwaukee), Bill Plunkett (Los Angeles Dodgers).
Looking at those names, Werth got consideration from a wide range of writers, ranging from the east coast all the way to the west. All in all he did deserve to receive some votes.
He missed a good amount of games only playing in 129, but in those games he had major production. A .398 OBP was the second highest of his career. This could have been due to the wrist injury or he was just being a more patient hitter than usual. None the less it was great to see from Werth. To go along with his OBP, his OPS of .931 was his best of his career.
It shouldn’t just be about home runs and RBI when voting for the MVP, everything should come into effect. Looking at his defense he only committed two errors all season, and had seven outfield assists as well. His assists were top ten among National League outfielders.
He doesn’t seem to be the best base runner, but he stole 10 bases in 11 attempts in 2013. He isn’t that 20 stolen bases a year type of player anymore, but it isn’t about the amount, it is about when you get them. Werth seemed to steal his bases in big situations, when the Nats needed a runner in scoring position.
Werth had an overall good season, that he can build on for 2014. He is under contract through 2017, and the Nats will need him to keep up his production for them to keep pace in the National League East.
Congrats Jayson on a great season and the credit you received in tonights voting reveal.
