The nominees for the 2008 Dodger Cy Young Award are:
Derek Lowe
-After a mediocre start (an above 4.00 ERA for most of June), Derek Lowe really kicked it into high gear. In his last 10 starts, he went 6-1 with a complete game and a 1.27 ERA. He finished the season 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 34 starts.
Chad Billingsley
-Excellent throughout the year, Billingsley really blossomed into the player Dodger fans have been hoping to see. He went 16-10 with a 3.14 and 201 strikeouts and he collected the first complete game shutout of his career. His ERA was good for 7th in the league, his 16 wins tied him for 7th, and 201 strikeouts placed him 5th.
Hong-Chih Kuo
-Well, on top of all the good stuff I've mentioned he's done this season in the previous awards I've given out, he's also the winner of the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year."
...and the 2008 Dodger Cy Young winner is...
Chad Billingsley
Hong-Chih Kuo was good, but nowhere near as good as the two starters on the list. Yes, this was mostly a two-horse race.
And while Derek Lowe might actually be a better candidate for MVP considering how well he pitched down the stretch, if you consider the Cy Young Award to be the award given to the best pitcher, then Chad Billingsley definitely wins, as he bested Lowe in both wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
So, for his statistical dominance of the pitching staff, Chad Billingsley wins the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Cy Young Award."
There were a handful of rookies that came up this year for the Dodgers, but only three really made an impact. Here are your nominees for Rookie of the Year:
Clayton Kershaw
-Kershaw debuted May 25th and had a strong six inning outing against the St. Louis Cardinals. He appeared in 22 games in 2008, going 5-5 with a 4.26 ERA, striking out 100 batters in 107.2 innings. His best outing came on August 7th, in St. Louis, when he gave up one run over seven innings while striking out seven.
Cory Wade
-Wade got called up and made his first appearance April 25th. He brought his ERA down from 3.00 to 2.35 on May 9th, and from that point until the end of the season, his ERA never cracked 3.00 again. He went 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 55 games in his rookie season.
Blake DeWitt
-DeWitt won the starting 3rd base job by default coming out of Spring Training, but showed he had some staying power. By the end of a terrific May, DeWitt was batting .303 with five homeruns and 29 RBIs. He settled down after that, but finished 2008 batting .264, with nine homeruns and 52 RBIs and started over 100 games combined at both 2nd and 3rd base.
...and the Rookie of the Year is...
Cory Wade
Blake DeWitt was all the rage for the first couple months, and he was important, don't get me wrong, but he seriously faded after that. Clayton Kershaw was hyped up, and while he wasn't lights out, he was still impressive.
However, Cory Wade received no hype but was quietly one of the best and most consistent members on the pitching staff. He settled right into the bullpen and pitched like a multi-year veteran. He might not have the most brilliant career of the three players mentioned here, but if you want to talk about who had the best year this year, it was Cory Wade.
There you have it, Cory Wade, "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Rookie of the Year."
It would be kind of pointless to give out a Gold Glove for each position on the team, but I will give out a Gold Glove to the best fielder on the team.
The nominees for the 2008 Dodger Gold Glove are:
James Loney
-Loney played a strong 1st base, committing only 13 errors in 1,498 total chances, good for a .991 fielding percentage.
Matt Kemp
-Kemp handled both center field and right field during the year, and yes, while at times he certainly seemed shaky, he committed only three errors on the season (.991 fielding percentage) and had 16 outfield assists.
Andre Ethier-Ethier, in playing both left field and right field committed only two errors during the season (.991 fielding percentage). He also collected 11 outfield assists.
...and the 2008 Gold Glove winner is...
Matt Kemp.
James Loney was downright solid at 1st base, and Andre Ethier played a strong right field (though his left field was weaker) but it's hard to overlook what Matt Kemp did.
Yes, he was shaky chasing down some of those fly balls, but he only got charged for three errors, and gunning out 16 people from the outfield is incredibly impressive.
For the glove and the arm, Matt Kemp is the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Gold Glove Winner."
There are six players up for Reliever of the Year:
Chan Ho Park
-4-4, two saves, 3.40 ERA in 54 games (95.1 innings).
Joe Beimel
-5-1, 2.02 ERA in 71 games (49 innings).
Hong-Chih Kuo
-5-3, one save, 2.14 ERA in 40 games (80 innings).
Cory Wade
-2-1, 2.27 ERA in 55 games (71.1 innings).
Jonathan Broxton
-3-5, 14 saves, 3.13 ERA in 70 games (69 innings).
Takashi Saito
-4-4, 18 saves, 2.49 ERA in 45 games (47 innings).
...and the Reliever of the Year is...
Hong-Chih Kuo
It came down to three players for me. Joe Beimel, even though he had a very impressive ERA, had some issues with letting inherited runners score. Cory Wade was a close second, but Hong-Chih Kuo had a better ERA in more innings.
On top of that all, Kuo was 5th on the team for strikeouts, trailing only four Dodgers starters, who of course, had more innings under their belts.
So, congratulations to Hong-Chih Kuo for winning the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Reliever of the Year."
Now that all the awards have been given out in baseball, it's time for me to give out my rewards, so we'll take a quick break from Player Profiles to hand out some rewards. First up: Comeback Player of the Year.
Just three nominees for the Comeback Player of the year:
Ángel Berroa
-After playing only nine games in the majors in 2007 and being sent to the Kansas City Royals' AAA team, Berroa was picked up by the Dodgers midseason. He then proceeded to start 64 games at shortstop for the Dodgers. He hit his first homerun in two years and played solid defense down the stretch.
Chan Ho Park
-Playing on three different teams after leaving the Dodgers before the 2002 season (including playing only one game in the majors in 2007), and not having an ERA below 4.80 over that time, Chan Ho returned to the team that first signed him. He made 54 appearances in 2008 (including five spot starts) and went 4-4 with a 3.40 ERA.
Hong-Chih Kuo-Kuo made it into only eight games in 2007, posting a 7.42 ERA while struggling with injuries throughout the year. Always an injury threat, Kuo made it through most of the 2008 season, appearing in 42 games (including three spot starts) and went 5-3 with a 2.14 ERA.
...And the Comeback Player of the Year is...
Chan Ho Park.
Ángel Berroa was a solid enough replacement at short stop, but not incredibly impressive. Many always knew Hong-Chih Kuo was a good pitcher but just needed to stay healthy, and when he did that, he proved how good he could be. His comeback was not nearly as good as say...
Chan Ho Park, on the other hand, had a great year for someone who's career was looking in question coming into the season. Despite his dropoff near the end of the season, Chan Ho still had his lowest ERA since 2000. In fact, if not for a handful of bad games near the end of the season, Chan Ho had an ERA below 3.00 for most of the season. He played three different roles out of the bullpen (spot starter, short reliever, long reliever) and did it all well.
So with that, Chan Ho Park is the "J's Dodger Blog 2008 Comeback Player of the Year."
Player: Ángel Berroa
2008 Stats: .230, one homerun, 16 RBIs
2008 Analysis: Who would have thought before the season that Ángel Berroa would play more games at shortstop for us than any other player? And play he did. In fact, he made it into 84 games as a Dodger, more than half. And over that span, he did, well... eh...
He did have a couple good weeks of offensive play, but mostly the bat wasn't there. In fact, he didn't collect an RBI with us until July 21st... which doesn't sound too bad for a mid-season acquisition, except Berroa played his first game with us on June 8th.
Defensively, he was, well... eh... He had a .975 fielding percentage (eight errors in 318 chances) which was a step up from his career fielding percentage and for the most part is solid, but still, eh...
2009 Outlook: Berroa's option was declined by the Dodgers, so he's a free agent-ish. I'm not sure, I think we have first rights towards resigning him, but I don't know that the market is blazing hot for Ángel Berroa. I'm getting the same vibe for Berroa that I have for Pablo Ozuna. He's not good enough that he needs to be resigned, nor does he have an unmatched skill-set. I don't think we'll need him back for 2009.
Player: Luis Maza
2008 Stats: 18-79 (.228), one homerun, four RBIs
2008 Analysis: Maza was very similar to Pablo Ozuna, in both hitting and defense. He had one homerun this year, the first of his career, though that's mostly because he's spent his entire career in the minor leagues and finally got to debut this year. His numbers in AAA were impressive, but he didn't produce nearly as well once he reached the majors.
Defensively, Maza found his way into games at both shortstop and 2nd base, though, for a shortstop, he had a surprisingly weak arm. His throws were slow, and almost didn't seem to make it to 1st. He played 50 more innings at 2nd than at shortstop, but committed two errors at each position. He ended up with a .971 fielding percentage this year.
2009 Analysis: Remember what I said about Pablo Ozuna? He can't really hit, he can't really run, he doesn't really play a great defensive game. Well, Luis Maza does those things even less better than Ozuna. I feel there's no place for him on the team next year.
Derek Lowe
Chad Billingsley
