Search the Community

While it did seem like we would struggle to have baseball in 2020 for a period of time, Sunday marked the culmination of the regular season. Major League Baseball overcame outbreaks and adverse conditions to reach its destined conclusion. Now, as a member of the IBWAA, I needed to look back and hand out some votes. Just like the BBWAA, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America votes on all major award categories on a yearly basis. The results will be tabulated and revealed at a later date, but here is what my ballot looked like. American League MVP: Jose Ramirez (runners up: Jose Abreu, Mike Trout, Brandon Lowe, Nelson Cruz) Ramirez posted 3.4 fWAR in 2020 to lead all players in the game. Cleveland made a strong comeback into the AL Central Division race at the end of the season, and it was on the bat of Ramirez that the White Sox met their match. Cleveland’s lineup struggled to produce for much of the season, but it was Ramirez that provided the spark and will be their leader come Postseason play. National League MVP: Freddie Freeman (runners up: Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Mookie Betts, Trea Turner) What a story in the National League. The Atlanta Braves were expected to be good, but Freeman was dealt a tough hand when contracting COVID-19 and dealing with substantial symptoms. He mentioned being extremely fearful in the midst of his illness and got a late start to Summer Camp. He then posted a 3.3 fWAR on the season and trailed only Cleveland’s Ramirez in that category across the entire landscape of the game. American League Cy Young: Shane Bieber (runners up: Kenta Maeda, Hyun-Jin Ryu) Little debate needed to take place here. While there were other strong pitching performances this season, it was Bieber that was the cream of the crop. Not Justin posted double-digit strikeout performances in eight of his 12 starts this season, and he gave up more than two runs in an outing just three times. It was mastery each time he stepped on the mound. National League Cy Young: Trevor Bauer (runners up: Yu Darvish, Jacob deGrom) Cincinnati looked to be a darling team this year, and if they make noise in the Postseason it’ll be in large part due to their pitching staff. Trevor Bauer takes down the ERA title and racked up a career best 12.3 K/9. He led the league in ERA+, WHIP, and H/9. In his final year with the Reds, there’s little denying a nice payday is coming. American League Rookie of the Year: Kyle Lewis (runners up: James Karinchak, Luis Robert) Chicago’s rising star was expected to run away with this, but it was the Seattle Mariners rookie that jumped out to a quick lead and hid. Kyle Lewis has plenty of swing and miss in his profile, but he played a great centerfield while shower tremendous power with his bat as well. Adjustments will be necessary down the line, but there’s little denying he was the cream of the crop in 2020. National League Rookie of the Year: Devin Williams (runners up: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Alec Bohm) Taken in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft, Williams took his time getting to the big leagues. In 27.0 IP this year he racked up a ridiculous 17.7 K/9 and allowed just a single earned run on eight total hits. Dominance is what the Brewers got out of their stud reliever, and it’s that effort that took him from unknown to award winner. American League Manager of the Year: Kevin Cash (runners up: Bob Melvin, Rocco Baldelli) With the Yankees expected to run away in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays capitalizing on opportunity was impressive. Reaching 40 wins and posting the best record in the American League, Tampa consistently beat not only New York, but Toronto and the rest of the division as well. Cash got great seasons from more than a handful of players and the Rays have him to thank for their position as the one seed. National League Manager of the Year: Don Mattingly (runners up: Dave Roberts, David Ross) This season was always going to be one of unprecedented proportions, but when you need to replace over half a team due to a virus outbreak, you’ve got another thing coming. Don Mattingly not only overcame that massive hurdle, but he guided an afterthought Marlins team back to the Postseason. Miami could pose a threat in a three-game series, and their skipper is to thank for positioning them there. American League Reliever of the Year: Liam Hendriks (runners up: Brad Hand, James Karinchak) Operating as the closer for one of the best teams in baseball, Hendriks got plenty of opportunity to perform in key situations. He racked up 14 saves while posting a 13.1 K/9. He also owned a 1.78 ERA and had an even better 1.14 FIP. All of the strikeouts, none of the free passes, the Aussie continues to be one of the best in baseball. National League Reliever of the Year: Devin Williams (runners up: Edwin Diaz, Raisel Iglesias) It was nice to see the Mets Edwin Diaz rebound from 2019 and be in the running here, but the Brewers rookie was among the most dominant pitchers the sport has ever seen with his work in 2020. He didn’t pitch the 9th with Milwaukee having the services of Josh Hader, but Williams was often the guy in key spots. His efficiency only fueled his dominance and taking home another award here is only fitting. For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

Returning home following a seven game road trip that saw the Minnesota Twins go 5-2, reinforcements made their debuts at Target Field during a three-game set with the hapless Kansas City Royals. Fresh off their first sweep since the end of May, Minnesota plays another interleague foe, this time without the silly caveat of a pitcher stepping into the box. The beginning of a seven-game tilt against Native- named teams, the Twins will look to chop down Atlanta.Brief Overview: These two clubs last faced each other in 2016 when sweeps were traded at the opposing teams ballparks. Atlanta leads the NL East by a healthy seven game margin, but their +58 run differential is nearly one-third of Minnesota’s +141 mark. The Braves have played at Target Field just five times, and the Twins will be looking for their first home win against the unusual foe since their debut game in the new digs. What They Do Well: Atlanta doesn’t possess a lineup quite to the level of Minnesota’s “A” group, but they aren’t far behind. Brian Snitker’s club is second in the National League in terms of offensive fWAR. They are top 10 in baseball when it comes to the long ball, and although the 103 wRC+ puts them near an average baseline, a .334 wOBA is just 4 points (.334) shy of the Dodgers for the top spot in the National League. It’s because of their offense that the Braves have created the lead they have in the NL East, and the run differential is a byproduct of them being able to score in bunches. It’s there where the positives begin to run out however, and if that differential seems like it’s because the Pythag suggests a 61-51 record is more appropriate. What They Do Not Do Well: For a team this good you’d expect the problems to be a bit more muted. Unfortunately on both the pitching and defensive fronts, there aren’t a ton of positives. As a whole, Atlanta’s pitching staff ranks 23rd in baseball. The starters are a respectable 17th but the abomination of a bullpen comes in at 29th. The front office attempted to address this by acquiring Chris Martin, Shane Greene, and Mark Melancon. Martin is a K/BB hero and brings a solid run in 2019 with the Rangers to the senior circuit. Melancon isn’t the guy he was a few years ago, but still has the chops to be a difference maker. Greene was supposed to be the headliner, but peripherals suggested likely regression and that’s come at the Braves expense thus far. In the field Atlanta is 25th in baseball. There’s no area that they significantly lack talent on defense, but the group as a whole falls short of mediocrity. This isn’t the Mets defense that Minnesota had a chance at a couple of weeks ago, but Atlanta does come in behind the divisional foe Chicago White Sox. Individuals Of Note: You can’t talk about Atlanta without first bringing up Ronald Acuna Jr. After winning the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018 he’s had an amazing encore performance. Through the exact same number of games (111) he’s surpassed his 2018 fWAR (3.7) by 0.1. Batting for both power and average, he’s among the most fearsome hitters in the game today. Freddie Freeman continues to be a model of consistency at first base. While not producing defensively to the same Gold Glove-caliber of 2018, he should still be in the conversation. Continuing to fall out of bed and hit for a .300 average has been his MO for years, and the .950 OPS is the third best mark of his career. It wasn’t groundbreaking to expect a healthy Josh Donaldson to contribute for this club. He’s posted a 2.6 fWAR in 2019 and has a wRC+ (127) one point higher than teammate Acuna. Looking at Ozzie Albies as a thrown in would be doing him a disservice, but the point here is that this lineup packs some punch. On the bump it’s impossible to overlook game one starter Mike Soroka. This was always Julio Teheran’s rotation until the former first-round pick took over. He’s 22 years old, gives up the lowest HR/9 in the league, and totes a sparkling 2.37 ERA. Minnesota loves the long ball, but they could have their hands full in this one. Recent History: As noted above, these two teams don’t link up often. Since 2013 they’ve played a grand total of seven times with Atlanta winning five of them. In 2016 Minnesota took the last two contests between the clubs, winning 4-2 and 10-3 in Georgia. Recent Trajectories: Atlanta comes to Target Field having won six of their last ten, but did lose in extras to Cincinnati on Sunday. Minnesota has held serve against a trio of hapless opponents going 8-2 over their last ten, and is currently riding a three-game winning streak. Pitching Matchups: Monday: Odorizzi vs Soroka Tuesday: Berrios vs Fried Foltynewicz Wednesday: Perez vs Fried (Gausman claimed by Reds) Ending Thoughts: This seven game stretch is as about as important as it gets for the Fightin’ Baldelli's the rest of the way. Atlanta is no slouch and Minnesota can’t get caught looking ahead to Cleveland. They’ll take these teams on without Byron Buxton, and neither Michael Pineda nor Sam Dyson will be at their disposal. Getting through this upcoming week with five wins would be massive to set up the final stretch. I think Atlanta gets one of the trio, but give me Minnesota exposing the soft run differential a bit. Having not made predictions for the first few series previews, this prediction would makes it two in a row. Click here to view the article