Washington Nationals: District on Deck 2018 End of Season Awards

Main Awards

In our first section, we hand out some of the traditional awards for the Washington Nationals. These will be the actual awards voted on for each league later on in the winter. So let’s start with one of the easiest to vote on.

Rookie of the Year

1. Juan Soto (100%)

To be honest, we could’ve seen this result coming a mile off without the need for a vote. Juan Soto took home RoY honors in one of four unanimous awards during the vote after his record-setting teenage season.

The other rookies on the ballot were Spencer Kieboom, Wander Suero and Erick Fedde, who all had solid years. But Soto winning as convincingly as he did isn’t really a knock on any of them, it’s more of a testament to just how historic Soto’s season was.

Gold Glove (Best Fielder)

1. Anthony Rendon (73%)
2. Trea Turner (27%)

Again, no surprises here with Anthony Rendon taking home the team’s gold glove award. He had an excellent season in the field, leading the team in UZR at 6.5 and putting himself in with a legitimate shot at his first gold glove in the MLB awards later this winter.

Perhaps Trea Turner‘s defensive season will go overlooked by many, as he was no slouch with the glove. Some will note his trademark jump throw and look down on it as inefficient, but he led the team in FanGraph’s Defensive Rating as well as MLB.com’s Range Factor.

Silver Slugger

1. Anthony Rendon (64%)
2. Juan Soto (36%)

This award was pegged to be a close race from the start, as several players had good offensive seasons, despite the team’s struggle for consistency. So in fitting fashion, it’s the team’s most consistent hitter, Anthony Rendon, who take home the Silver Slugger.

He led the team in batting average, slugging and FanGraph’s Offensive Rating, finishing the year with a strong September. Juan Soto wound up second as the only other vote-getter, while Trea Turner and Bryce Harper didn’t get a single vote.

Cy Young (Best Pitcher)

1. Max Scherzer (100%)

Our second unanimous award is another one we probably could’ve just penciled in without a vote. Max Scherzer takes home the team’s Cy Young award after yet another fantastic season that was among the best in his career.

He had his first 300 strikeout season, becoming just the 17th member of the club since 1900 in yet another historic season for the right-hander. While he looks set to miss out on the NL Cy Young this year to Jacob deGrom, this season has all but cemented his Hall of Fame legacy.

MVP (Most Valuable Player)

1. Max Scherzer (73%)
2. Juan Soto (18%)
3. Anthony Rendon (9%)

Of the main awards, this was definitely the most surprising. Not in that Scherzer came out on top, but the landslide margin of well over 50 percent is definitely a bit of a shock given the performances of Rendon and Soto.

Had the poll been held midseason, when he was in the actual NL MVP race, it would’ve made more sense. However, even with Rendon’s real MVP candidacy, it was only Tom Sileo who voted for him in our awards. Votes from Brian Foley and Drew Douglas gave Soto the edge for second as his rookie season will live long in the memory.

Secondary Awards

Now that we’ve got the main honors out of the way, we can dig a little into some of the secondary awards. In this section, voting was not compulsory, with some writers not following the team as deeply after leaving District on Deck.

Comeback Player of the Year

1. Adam Eaton (64%)
2. Jeremy Hellickson (27%)
3. Greg Holland (9%)

After a devastating torn ACL in 2017, Adam Eaton was able to bounce back in 2018, despite more injury troubles. While his power numbers were down, he slashed a promising .301/.394/.411 and sets himself up for an even stronger effort next year.

Jeremy Hellickson garnered a few votes after becoming Mike Rizzo’s reclamation project as the fifth starter. Although he suffered injuries as well, he ended his comeback year with a 5-3 record to go along with a strong 3.45 ERA, as the Nats strategy to shield him from facing the lineup a third time through clearly worked a treat.

Best Acquisition

1. Matt Adams (55%)
2. Jeremy Hellickson (36%)
3. Greg Holland (9%)

When the Nationals let Adam Lind go after the 2017 season, it seemed ill-advised, but Matt Adams helped fans forget all about Lind. Before he was traded in the late-season sell-off he slashed a cool .257/.332/.510 and was huge filling in for Ryan Zimmerman in the first half.

Had Hellickson managed to avoid his injuries, he may well have ended up the victor in a close vote. Greg Holland picked up a vote too as he was a revelation for the Nats after his signing, and many will hope he returns next year.

Reliever of the Year

1. Sean Doolittle (100%)

The Washington Nationals are definitely blessed to have one of the best closers in baseball ply their trade in the nation’s capital. Sean Doolittle takes home best reliever award after recording 25 saves in 26 chances to the tune of a 1.60 ERA.

You could make a case that the likes of Matt Grace and Wander Suero deserved a vote in this award for their versatility and performance in 2018. But in the end, despite his injury, there will be no complaints that Doolittle takes this home unanimously.

Minor Leaguer of the Year

1. Carter Kieboom (75%)
2. Kyle McGowin (25%)

Next up is our award for best Minor Leaguer, and there were several good candidates for the award. In the end, Carter Kieboom stole the voting by a considerable margin. The younger Kieboom brother slashed .280/.357/.444 while hitting 16 homers, 69 RBIs with nine steals and is now one of the more hotly anticipated prospects in the Nats system.

The other player to draw votes was Kyle McGowin who was finally able to figure things out in the minors. He ended the year with a minor league record of 8-6 to go with a 2.80 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 152 Ks en route to making his big league debut in September.

Game of the Year

1. Miami Comeback (89%)
2. Sunday Night Classic v Cubs (11%)

At the time of the game, the comeback against the Miami Marlins in early July felt like a seismic turning point for the Nationals. They sunk into an early nine-run hole but battled back as Trea Turner stole the show with the grand slam that put them ahead.

Contributor Ross Shinberg was able to take the rose-tinted glasses off and voted for the classic that the Nats and Cubs played out in August. It ended on a David Bote grand slam, which led to disappointment for Nationals fans, but for neutrals, it was sensational viewing.

Moment of the Year

1. Bryce HR Derby (73%)
2. Soto 1st HR (18%)
3. Turner Slam (9%)

Although we had our Moment of the Year article the day after the season ended, we wanted a wider perspective on what it should. But it was no surprise that Bryce Harper and his Home Run Derby performance took the top spot in the vote.

While the grand slam by Turner helped win the game of the year, that moment fell to third as Juan Soto’s first career major league homer took second. It signaled the start of a new era in Nationals baseball, and we hope many more long balls follow throughout his Nats tenure.

Misc. Awards

To wrap up the District on Deck awards, we had a little bit of fun and included some miscellaneous categories. Once again, voting was not compulsory in this section, but given the nature of the awards, the full panel voted for most of them.

Best Hitting Pitcher

1. Max Scherzer (100%)

Our final unanimous award went to Max Scherzer as the team’s best hitting pitcher. While he did slow down towards the end of the season, he finished with a slash line of .243/.274/.271, which is impressive by pitcher standards.

The only pitcher to hit a home run this year for the Nats was AJ Cole in his first start of the year against the Atlanta Braves. However, that wasn’t enough to earn any votes while Scherzer cruised home, and he will hope to win the Silver Slugger for the position at the end of the year.

Best Hair

1. Bryce Harper (46%)
2. Sean Doolittle (27%)
3. Wilmer Difo (18%)

Surprise, surprise, the player with an advertising deal with a hair care company wins the best hair. But given the slick hair and facial hair for that matter, this is surely Bryce Harper’s biggest honor in a Nationals uniform.

The rest of the order was a bit of a surprise, as Sean Doolittle was able to climb into second place ahead of Wilmer Difo and his early-season dreadlocks. Sadly, for the facial hair fans, Tanner Roark and the funky sideburns didn’t get a single vote.

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Best Rain Delay

1. Stevenson arrives mid-delay (50%)
2. Blowtorches! (40%)
3. Beat Reporter Meltdown (10%)

We had so many rain delays in the 2018 season so we thought it was very fitting to have an award dedicated to the “best” delay. The victor turned out to be one of the more memorable late-season moments when Andrew Stevenson arrived during the rain delay, only to then hit the game-tying home run in a game the Nats would go on to win.

There was a strong voting contingent who were appreciative of the blowtorches in Philadelphia which provided much amusement and joke on Twitter, but not enough to win the award. Clearly, Ross Shinberg is a fan of chaos as the only person to vote for the meltdown of the Nats beat reporters during the four-hour rain delay that resulted in a postponement against the Cubs.

Weirdest Davey Gimmick

1. Camels (67%)
2. Walk-Off Practice (22%)
3. Mariachi (11%)

Well, it’s safe to say that Davey Martinez certainly picked up the quirky side of Joe Maddon from his time as his bench coach. But he took it to a new level when one day at Spring Training he rocked up with camels. The camels cantered home as Martinez’s weirdest gimmick this year.

After the camels, we also had some votes for walk-off practice, that didn’t actually get much use during the season as the team was only able to manage a handful. Finally, the Cinco de Mayo Mariachi band also drew a vote, but nobody could get over the hump and take down the camels.

Best Interview Quote

1. Martinez (on pulling Max before 300 Ks): “I value my life.” (46%)
2. Soto: “Keep Doing Juan Soto Things” (36%)
3. Rendon (on Soto): “That man is the TRUTH” (9%)

Our final award goes to the season’s best quote, and there were plenty of contenders for this one. But in the end, Davey Martinez be terrified of Scherzer and what he might do if he didn’t let him get 300 strikeouts stole the award.

Juan Soto Things are very good things these days, and Nationals fans are looking forward more of those same things next year. Andy Beckham clearly took stock in Anthony Rendon using the few words he does say to express his confidence in Soto while he was still in the minors. Maybe Rendon has a future in scouting and can find more Truths down the road.

Thanks for following the Washington Nationals with us at District on Deck. Keep an eye on our site throughout the offseason as we look ahead to an interesting winter for the Nats.