On Pace Stats for the 2016 MLB Season and Awards

As MLB baseball approaches its final weeks of the regular season, it’s about time we find out the players who are in the running for some hardware for their respective stellar campaigns.

Join us as we run down three candidates from each league that are in the running for the MVP and Cy Young Awards, as well as our predictions for the front-runners in each position for the Golden Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

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Top Individual Awards Candidates for the 2016 MLB Regular Season

Most Valuable Player

American League

Top three candidates: Jose Altuve, Edwin Encarnacion, Manny Machado

The Houston Astros stumbled out off the gates this season, but made a great push up the standings before All-Star week to put them back in the running for the AL West pennant. A huge reason for that surge has been second baseman Jose Altuve, who currently leads the major in batting average (.361) and ranks sixth with 26 stolen bases.

Manny Machado (.304/.363/.556, .919 OPS for the first-place Orioles) and Edwin Encarnacion, who currently leads the AL in home runs (31) and RBIs (94), both make compelling cases. But we’ll side with the Houston’s jack-of-all-trades just so long as the Astros do indeed make the playoffs.

Writer’s Prediction: Jose Altuve

National League

Top three candidates: Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Clayton Kershaw

Despite playing for the underachieving Colorado Rockies, there seems to be no better candidate for the NL MVP title right now other than Nolan Arenado. The third baseman, who’s just in his third year in the majors, is the current NL leader in homers (30) and RBIs (91) with a ton fielding prowess to spare.

Sure, Arenado has the benefit of playing in hitter-friendly Coors Field half of the season, but his numbers are even made more impressive given how many talented pitchers there are in the National League (which we’ll get more into later). Heck, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is in the running for the NL MVP and he’s currently hurt, and Kris Bryant’s numbers will go overlooked considering the entire Cubs roster is stacked with batters aplenty putting up great numbers as well.

Writer’s Prediction: Nolan Arenado

Cy Young Award

American League

Top three candidates: Cole Hamels, Danny Salazar, Chris Sale

With so many powerful hitters in the American League, it’s been a rough year for most of the league’s aces. White Sox standout Chris Sale’s tantrum and the trade rumors that followed hurt his value a bit, so the AL Cy Young Award could very well be Cole Hamels’ for the taking.

The 32-year-old Hamels in having a resurgent season for the first-place Texas Rangers, boasting a 12-3 record and a dazzling 2.89 ERA (third in the AL). He didn’t lose his third decision until this past week, and has not given more than four runs in 19 of his 24 starts in 2016.

Writer’s Prediction: Cole Hamels

National League

Top three candidates: Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg

It’s been a wild MLB career for former widely-touted collegiate prospect Stephen Strasburg, but the Washington Nationals’ top investment outside of Bryce Harper has started to pay major dividends at last. Strasburg, who has already undergone Tommy John surgery during his short professional career, is now the NL’s top ace with 15 wins and just two losses for the 67-win Nationals, and with a superb 2.80 ERA to boot.

Clayton Kershaw’s MLB-best 1.79 ERA is of no value if he does not recover soon from his back injury, and the rest of the National League has plenty of other outstanding starters like Madison Bumgarner, Jose Fernandez, Jake Arrieta, Max Scherzer and Johnny Cueto nipping at his heels just to name a few. But as of the moment, Strasburg’s surprisingly grand season stands out the most.

Writer’s Prediction: Stephen Strasburg

Golden Glove Award Predictions

American League

Position | Player | Team
1B | Mitch Moreland | TEX
2B | Robinson Cano | SEA
3B | Adrian Beltre | TEX
SS | Jose Iglesias | DET
LF | Melky Cabrera | CHW
CF | Carlos Gomez | HOU
RF | Mookie Betts | BOS
C | Russell Martin | TOR
P | Steven Wright | BOS

National League

Position | Player | Team
1B | Wil Myers | SD
2B | Ben Zobrist | CHC
3B | Nolan Arenado | COL
SS | Jordy Mercer | PIT
LF | Matt Holliday | STL
CF | Andrew McCutchen | PIT
RF | Curtis Granderson | NYM
C | Yadier Molina | STL
P | Bartolo Colon | NYM

Silver Slugger Award Predictions

American League

Postion | Player | Team
1B | Miguel Cabrera | DET
2B | Jose Altuve | HOU
3B | Manny Machado | BAL
SS | Xander Bogaerts | BOS
OF | Mike Trout | LAA
C | Salvador Perez | KC
DH | David Ortiz | BOS

National League

Postion | Player | Team
1B | Anthony Rizzo | CHC
2B | Daniel Murphy | WSH
3B | Nolan Arenado | COL
SS | Corey Seager | LAD
OF | Carlos Gonzalez | COL
C | Wilson Ramos | WSH
P | Madison Bumgarner | SF

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