MLB Announces 2020 Awards

By Will Lanigan

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) recently announced its annual award-winners for the 2020 Major League Baseball season.  The winners are as follows: 

Most Valuable Player: 

• American League: JOSE ABREU, Chicago White Sox 
  • “While helping lead the White Sox to their first postseason appearance in 12 years, Jose Abreu led the AL in RBIs (60), finished 2^nd in HRs (19) and 4^th in average (.317).  He won the MVP six years after being named Rookie of the Year.” 
  • This first baseman defected from his native Cuba in 2013, and since joining the Sox in 2014, has batted .294, with 1114 hits, 198 home runs, and 671 runs batted in.  His career fielding percentage is .992.  Mr. Abreu played in all 60 games this season. 

• National League: FREDDIE FREEMAN, Atlanta Braves 
  • “After missing most of Summer Camp with COVID-19, NL MVP Freddie Freeman enjoyed an outstanding season for the NL East-winning Braves, leading MLB in runs (51), finishing 2^nd in MLB in OPS (1.102) and 2^nd in the NL in average (.341), OBP (.462) and slugging (.640).” 
  • This first baseman, now in his 11^th MLB season, has a career batting average of .295, 1524 hits, 240 home runs, and 858 runs batted in.  His career fielding percentage is .995.  Mr. Freeman also played in all 60 games in 2020. 

Cy Young Award: 

• American League: SHANE BIEBER, Cleveland Indians 
  • “The first unanimous choice in the AL since ’11, the Indians’ Shane Bieber dominated in 2020, setting an MLB record with a 41.1% strikeout rate, recording the lowest qualified ERA (1.63) since 1969 and tying for the lowest opponents’ average (.167) since ’69.” 
  • This starting pitcher, only in his 2^nd full MLB season, became the first American League Triple Crown winner since Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers in 2011, and the first Major League Triple Crown winner since Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins in 2006.  The Pitching Triple Crown means a pitcher led the league (or in this case, both leagues) in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.  Mr. Bieber won 8 ballgames, struck out 122 men, and had an ERA of 1.63. 

• National League: TREVOR BAUER, Cincinnati Reds 
  • “Trevor Bauer became the first Red to win the award after leading the NL in ERA (1.73), ERA+ (276), WHIP (0.79), opponents’ average (.159) and shutouts (2).  He ranked second in strikeouts (100) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.3).” 
  • This controversially outspoken pitcher only went 5-4 on the season, but that seemingly mediocre win-loss record can be explained by the fact that he played for the Cincinnati Reds.  Otherwise, his statistics for the year were spectacular.  He pitched 2 complete game shutouts and had 100 strikeouts.  Mr. Bauer is the first Cy Young Award winner in Cincinnati Reds history.  The Reds can trace their roots to the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, making them possibly the oldest Major League Baseball franchise. 

Rookie of the Year: 

• American League: KYLE LEWIS, Seattle Mariners 
  • “A unanimous selection for the honor, Kyle Lewis became just the second rookie to lead his team in average (.262), HRs (11), runs (37) and walks (34) and was a mainstay on highlight reels with multiple homer robberies.” 
  • This young outfielder held a respectable batting average for a rookie, but particularly for a Seattle Mariner.  In 57 games at center field, Mr. Lewis only held a .985 fielding percentage, but it was his spectacular catches which truly earned him the Jackie Robinson Award (the ROTY award’s official name) for the Junior Circuit. 
• National League: DEVIN WILLIAMS, Milwaukee Brewers 
  • “Devin Williams fanned a record 53 percent of his 100 batters faced, posting a microscopic 0.33 ERA and .090 BAA in becoming the first reliever to win Rookie of the Year since 2011.” 
  • This young relief pitcher, in 22 ball games, allowed 1 home run.  That’s right, only 1.  Oh, and by the way, it was his only earned run all year.  Striking out 53 of 100 hitters faced is an incredible feat, especially for a rookie!  Mr. Williams’ fielding percentage of .750 may seem low, but the official scorers gave him one error in 4 attempts, so such a small sample size should not be trusted to tell us anything.  His record of 4-1 in just 22 relief appearances with the Brew Crew certainly assisted his chances of winning the Jackie Robinson Award for the Senior Circuit as well. 

Manager of the Year: 

• American League: KEVIN CASH, Tampa Bay Rays 
  • “Kevin Cash was named AL Manager of the Year for leading the Rays to their first AL East title since 2010 despite having 13 players on the IL on Sept. 1.  Cash implemented 59 different batting orders in 60 games and tied an MLB record by using 12 different pitchers to record a save.” 
  • Apparently MLB forgot to acknowledge the fact that the Rays won the American League championship.  Thanks in part to the unconventional Cash at the helm, Tampa Bay won the pennant and advanced to the second World Series in franchise history.  59 batting orders in a 60-game season is an incredible feat that will likely never be matched.  It simply doesn’t seem likely to have 161 different batting orders in a normal (non-pandemic) 162-game season.  What’s more, 12 different pitchers saving ball games is downright crazy, because the record the Rays tied was achieved in a normal 162-game season. 

• National League: DON MATTINGLY, Miami Marlins 
  • “Just the 5^th to win a Manager of the Year and an MVP, Don Mattingly guided the Marlins to their 1^st postseason appearance in 17 years amid a massive roster overhaul due to the COVID pandemic.” 
  • Mattingly won the AL MVP 35 years ago, back in 1985.  Additionally, he won 3 Silver Slugger Awards and 9 Gold Glove Awards in his 14-year career playing first base for the New York Yankees.  The 59-year-old skipper, who no longer dons his famous mustache, led the Marlins to a second-place finish in the NL’s Eastern Division.  Perhaps the Fish would’ve had a shot at winning the franchise’s first division title if it hadn’t been for so many COVID diagnoses within the organization, but the Braves of Atlanta ultimately finished 4 games ahead in the standings.  After upsetting the Cubs at Wrigley Field in the Wild Card round, Miami would ultimately fall to the same Braves in a 3-game sweep of the NL Division Series. 

Quotations are from Major League Baseball, and statistics are from Baseball-Reference.