Washington Nationals: Handicapping the odds in each award race

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The Washington Nationals have several players in the running for regular season awards. We take a look at their odds.

The MLB regular season has come to an end, and the Washington Nationals finished with the National League’s second-best record. The Nats managed to win 97 games, and are by far one of the most complete teams in the league.

Since their roster is so well-rounded, they have several players in the running for regular season awards. Most teams have a player or two at best, but the Nats have many different players who could receive votes for different awards.

While personal accomplishments and awards must take a backseat to team success, they do contribute to the team and it is always nice to be recognized for your hard work.

Last year, the Nats had several players receive awards. Max Scherzer won the National League Cy Young Award, Daniel Murphy won the National League Silver Slugger Award for second basemen, Wilson Ramos won the National League Silver Slugger Award for catchers, and Anthony Rendon won the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

This is a truly star-studded team, which will become evident in October. This team is prepared to go on a deep postseason run, something the team has yet to do since returning to DC. No matter far this team goes in October, they should rack up lots of individual awards for their regular season performance.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at which Nats are in the running for each award and where they stand.

Most Valuable Player

While every award is impressive, the Most Valuable Player Award is possibly the most impressive. It goes to the most valuable player in each league, who is typically also the best player in the league. The MVP Award usually goes to a position player, because they play more often and have more chances to make an impact, but pitchers can also receive the award.

Most teams don’t have anyone in the running for the MVP Award, but the Nats have four candidates: Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, and Max Scherzer. Scherzer may receive a few votes, but he will fall victim to the pitcher argument in the end. Therefore, Rendon, Harper, and Zimmerman are the Nats’ main three candidates.

Somehow, Rendon was not named an All-Star this season. In spite of this, he led the National League in fWAR, a stat many people use to judge the value of a player. Because of this, Rendon has an excellent case to win the NL MVP Award.

In the end, Rendon will most likely not win the award. He has certainly played well enough to win it, but he is not nationally well-known enough to win. Nevertheless, he has had an incredible season and should receive some MVP votes.

In addition to Rendon, Bryce Harper also has a shot at the award. He won it in 2015, when he had one of the individual seasons of all-time at age-22, and he was having an MVP-caliber season this year before getting hurt.

A leg injury forced Harper to miss over a month, which effectively took him out of the running. He did not receive enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, and the time on the disabled list will likely cost him the MVP Award as well. While Harper will most likely not win the award this season, he should still get votes and is a perennial threat to win.

The Nats’ final MVP candidate is Ryan Zimmerman. The face of the franchise has battled injuries over the past few seasons, which diminished his on-field performance. However, he was finally healthy this season.

Zimmerman had a phenomenal season, and even started the All-Star Game for the National League. He filled an enormous role in the heart of the lineup, and was a catalyst in the Nats’ potent offense. He will not win the award, but should still garner some votes, which is an honor in itself.

If a National wins the MVP Award, it will most likely be Anthony Rendon.

The Cy Young Award goes to the best pitcher in the league each season, and is basically the MVP of pitchers. Max Scherzer won the award last season for the second time in his career. He also put himself on a short list of pitchers who have won the award in both leagues.

Scherzer had another dominant season in 2017, and is the likely frontrunner to repeat as the Cy Young Award winner. If he wins the award, it will be the third of his career, which would practically cement him as a future hall of famer.

In addition to Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are in the mix for Cy Young.

Strasburg is likely the Nats’ second-best candidate, but he will not win the award due to time spent on the disabled list. When healthy, Strasburg is an elite starter and one of the best in either league. The baseball world saw this throughout August and September, as Strasburg threw 35 straight scoreless innings.

Gonzalez, the Nats’ final Cy Young candidate, also put together a phenomenal season. He finished third in the 2012 NL Cy Young race, and had a similar season this year.

Unfortunately, Gonzalez struggled in September and his one start in October, pitching to a 5.47 ERA in five starts. His end-of-season stats were still good, 15-9 with a 2.96 ERA, but his rough finish likely took him out of the running.

The Nats starting rotation is arguably the best in the league, which will be evident in the NL Cy Young Award voting. Scherzer, Strasburg, and Gonzalez will all receive votes, but Scherzer is the Nats’ top candidate.

Comeback Player of the Year

The Comeback Player of the Year Award goes to a player who had a great season, but was coming off of a rough season the year before. It is an honor that goes to a great player who possibly battled injuries or just had a down year. Winning this award takes lots of hard work and perseverance, as it means you had a rough season before.

Anthony Rendon won the award last season, which effectively takes him out of the running this year, but the Nats have a couple candidates to keep the award in DC.

The Nats’ first candidate is Ryan Zimmerman. It is not often that the frontrunner for Comeback Player of the Year is also an MVP candidate, but that is exactly the case with Zimmerman.

He struggled while battling injuries over the previous few seasons, but he came back in a big way this year. The face of the franchise finished the season with a slash line of .303/.358/.930 to go with his team-leading 36 homers and 108 RBI’s.

Seeing Zimmerman rebound was a much-welcomed sight for Nats fans, as it was tough to see the face of the franchise struggle over the past few seasons. While Zimmerman most likely will not win the NL MVP Award, he has an excellent shot at the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Gio Gonzalez is also in the running for Comeback Player of the Year. He had a great season in 2012, but then fell off the map a bit. He was always respectable, but was extremely erratic at times and the Nats never really knew what they were getting from him.

That is, until this year. Gonzalez finally harnessed his control for the most part and played a crucial role in the Nats’ elite starting rotation. He is one of the best third starters in the league and does an excellent job of lengthening the Nats’ rotation.

He probably won’t win the award due to a weak finish, but made an excellent case and should finish right behind Zimmerman.

While it’s tough to watch players struggle, it’s very exciting to watch them return to form and possibly be recognized as the Comeback Player of the Year.

Gold Glove

The Gold Glove Award goes to the best defensive player at each position in each league. The Nats have had a few winners in the past, as Ryan Zimmerman won the Gold Glove Award among National League third basemen in 2009 and Adam LaRoche won the Gold Glove Award among National League first basemen in 2012.

This season, the Nats have a few candidates to bring the team their first Gold Glove Award in five years.

The Nats’ frontrunner is most likely Anthony Rendon. Rendon plays lockdown defense at the hot corner, making near-impossible plays look routine. He has also mastered his non-traditional sidearm throw, and has become one of the best fielders in the league.

Unfortunately, Nolan Arenado also plays third base. While Rendon is outstanding, Arenado is believed to be just a tiny bit better. Part of this is due to the fact that Arenado is more well-known nationally, but he is also a tremendous third baseman. Rendon is a perennial Gold Glove candidate, but will struggle to win the award with Arenado in front of him.

In addition to Rendon, Michael Taylor and Trea Turner are also in the mix to win a Gold Glove Award.

Taylor was not expected to be an everyday player for the Nats, but Adam Eaton‘s gruesome injury thrust Taylor into a starter’s role. Taylor handled the task tremendously, likely earning himself the starting job next season as well.

While Taylor had a solid season offensively, he is even better defensively. He utilizes his great speed to get to balls that other outfielders can only dream of getting to and has a great arm to gun down baserunners. He makes a highlight reel play seemingly every night and has absolutely played Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field, but will most likely not win the award.

Like Rendon, Taylor is not a well-known player, which will hurt him in the voting. He should garner some votes, but not enough to win the award.

The Nats’ final Gold Glove candidate is shortstop Trea Turner. Turner is one of the fastest players in the league, which he uses to his advantage in the field. He has excellent range and has become one of the better shortstops in the league at making plays to each side.

Turner has also perfected the jump throw in the hole. This is a very difficult play, made famous by Derek Jeter, and Turner makes it look easy. He is a great defensive shortstop, but will likely not win the Gold Glove Award.

Despite being a great defensive shortstop, Turner has a few things working against him. First of all, his speed allows him to get to balls that other fielders would have to dive for. Therefore, he appears to not make as many amazing plays. His speed also allows him to get to more balls, which require difficult throws. Because of this, he will make throwing errors on balls that would get past most shortstops.

The Nats have a few solid Gold Glove candidates in Rendon, Taylor, and Turner, but Rendon is the most likely to win the award.

Silver Slugger

The Silver Slugger Award goes to the best offensive player at each position in each league. The Nats have had several players win this award, including Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos last season.

This season, the Nats have several candidates to win Silver Slugger Awards, with Daniel Murphy being the most likely. Murphy finished with the second-highest batting average in the National League for the second consecutive season, and put together an incredible season at the plate.

When all was said and done, Murphy had a slash line of .322/.384/.928 to go with his 23 homers and 93 RBI’s. He put together a great season, and doesn’t have much competition for the award, aside from DJ LeMahieu, Javier Baez, and Josh Harrison.

In addition to Murphy, the Nats also have Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman in the running.

By now, you known about the phenomenal season Rendon put together, and he is in the running for the Silver Slugger Award, among others. He finished with a slash line of .301/.403/.937 to go with his 25 homers and 100 RBI’s.

Any time a player hits 25 homers and records 100 RBI’s is special, and Rendon deserves consideration for the award, even if just for that. Incredibly, he also hit 41 doubles. The player that Nats fans affectionately call, “Tony Two Bags” has quickly become of the best offensive third basemen and should garner some votes for Silver Slugger.

The Nats’ third candidate for Silver Slugger is Bryce Harper. His gruesome injury likely cost him the MVP Award, and may cost him a Silver Slugger as well. He was great when healthy, but missed over a month and did not qualify for the batting title.

Despite not qualifying for the batting title, Harper had another terrific season at the plate. He had a slash line of .319/.413/1.008 and hit 29 homers with 87 RBI’s. His 29 homers were second-best on the team, which goes to show how good he was when healthy.

The Nats’ final candidate is Ryan Zimmerman. He had an outstanding season as well, but has strong competition at first base, including Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, and Anthony Rizzo. Despite the strong competition, Zimmerman should garner some votes and finish in the top three.

The Nats have several candidates to win the Silver Slugger Award, but Daniel Murphy is the most likely National to win, which would be his second in a row.

Manager of the Year

The Manager of the Year Award goes to the best manager in each league. A few Nats managers have won this award in the past, as Davey Johnson won in 2012 and Matt Williams won in 2014.

More from District on Deck

In his two seasons with the Nats, Dusty Baker has done a tremendous job. He took a talented team in shambles and turned them back into the force that they were. He has led the Nats to back-to-back division titles, something that had never been done since returning to DC.

Last season, Baker finished third in National League Manager of the Year voting, behind Dave Roberts and Joe Maddon. This season, however, he has built a more compelling case.

The Nats won 97 games this season, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at everyone that played for them this season. They battled injuries all season, and required countless players to make it through the year.

Baker is one of the best managers in the league, and got the most out of every player to don the Curly W this season. He believes in all of his players, which gives them confidence and enables them to perform at a high level.

Because of this, Baker deserves to win the National League Manager of the Year Award. However, he most likely will not win. It is a tough field this year, with Roberts and Maddon remaining in the conversation and other managers, such as Craig Counsell, Torey Lovullo, and Bud Black entering the picture.

Baker will most likely not win the award, but is very capable of leading the Nats to win the ultimate award, a World Series trophy.

Next: Bryce Harper will improve in October

The Nationals won 97 games this season, which was thanks to many outstanding individual performances. When the regular season award winners are announced in November, expect the Nats to be well-represented.

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