District On Deck
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Washington Nationals: District on Deck 2018 End of Season Awards

By Blake Finney

The 2016 National League Cy Young Award is presented to Max Scherzer #32 of the Washington Nationals before the start of the Opening Day game against the Miami Marlins on April 3, 2017 at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The Nationals won 4-2. Also pictured is Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo (R). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The 2016 National League Cy Young Award is presented to Max Scherzer #32 of the Washington Nationals before the start of the Opening Day game against the Miami Marlins on April 3, 2017 at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The Nationals won 4-2. Also pictured is Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo (R). (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) /
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Washington Nationals Max Scherzer
(Photo Rob Carr, Getty Images) /

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.

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