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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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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.

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