San Francisco Giants: Unsurprisingly, Giants Shut Out of MLB Awards
Much like their offense many times this season, the San Francisco Giants were shut out of MLB’s awards following another disappointing season.
Major League Baseball has officially concluded its award season, and unsurprisingly, the San Francisco Giants were shut out in every category. They didn’t have an MVP, a Cy Young, a Rookie of the Year, a Silver Slugger, or a Gold Glover.
Not only were they shut out from winning the awards, the Giants were completely shut out in voting as well. No Giants’ player received a single vote for Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, or Rookie of the Year. It’s the first time since 2007, when the Giants finished last in the NL West with 91 losses, that they didn’t receive a single award vote and didn’t win a Silver Slugger or Gold Glove.
Really, none of this should come as a surprise. It’s a testament to how painfully disappointing the team as a whole was again in 2018.
No Giant put together a full season that would have warranted an MVP vote. Shortstop Brandon Crawford and first baseman Brandon Belt both had a big first half, but injuries limited their productivity in the second half and ultimately, led to fairly lackluster years. Catcher Buster Posey has received MVP votes six times in the past, but again, an injury kept him from peak performance.
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Johnny Cueto got off to a roaring start in April and looked poised to recover from a terrible 2017 season. His elbow forced him on to the disabled list after five starts, and Tommy John surgery was his eventual fate. Madison Bumgarner missed the first two months after another freak injury, then didn’t pitch up to his own standards when he did return. Those two had been common names on Cy Young ballots in the past, but didn’t earn their way on this year.
No hitter was good enough for a Silver Slugger, and no one was really even close. For Gold Gloves, Posey and Crawford were both finalists at their respective positions, but Posey only started 85 games behind the plate. Crawford played through his injuries, but he had his worst defensive season in years while the Diamondbacks’ Nick Ahmed had his best year.
The only real candidate to receive some love in voting was rookie righty Dereck Rodriguez. After being brought in as a minor league free agent that had never even pitched in AAA, Rodriguez became one of the Giants’ biggest bright spots in 2018. He posted a 2.81 ERA and 1.13 WHIP while holding opponents to a .221 average.
Realistically, Rodriguez had no chance to actually win the award. It was a very talented and deep class of rookies, led by winner Ronald Acuna of the Braves and teenage sensation Juan Soto from the Nationals. Dodgers’ rookie hurler Walker Buehler also got plenty of votes. Still, it is somewhat surprising that Rodriguez didn’t find his way onto the backend of at least one ballot.
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Even if Rodriguez did receive a vote for his outstanding efforts, it would have been a small, small consolation prize to another rough year for the team. It’s just more evidence to how far the Giants have to go to get back into contention in the National League.