Clayton Kershaw is the first pitcher in 46 years to win the NL MVP Award. He took 18 first place votes to win easily over Andrew McCutchen. In the year that pitching dominated, I’m not surprised Clayton won. He did everything right on the mound in the regular season, and this year the best pitcher is also the most valuable player. The young man pretty much solidified his Hall of Fame chances tonight.
Here is the announcement from the BBWAA.
Anthony Rendon, who I had second, finished fifth in the voting.
Bob Gibson was the last NL pitcher to win the MVP.
So are they going to lower the mound again? Or will teams do something radical, such as invest in developing hitting again?
rbj » I believe it will be the latter, just as they invested in pitching at the height of scoring last decade.
Bob Gibson pitched 304 IP (258 ERA+) when he won a MVP, Kershaw threw 198 IP (197 ERA+).
Some MVP seasons are better than others. This is not a particularly novel observation.