Phillies first half award winners: Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, and more
With the season halfway over, let’s look at the Phillies best and worst players from the first half, handing out our own midseason awards.
The Phillies have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2018 MLB season. They went from a 66-win team last year to leading the National League East at the All-Star Break. They have the third-best record in the National League at 53-42 and have put themselves in great position for a playoff push.
Of course, any team having this much success has several players leading the way with their performances. With that in mind, let’s give out some awards to some of the best – and one of the worst – players on the team.
Cy Young: Aaron Nola
If you opened this article and expected anyone but Aaron Nola to be here, I don’t know what kind of drugs you are on. Not only has Nola been the best pitcher on the team, he has been one of the best pitchers in the entire league.
After a strong 2017 season, Nola took another step forward in his development in the first half this year. In 20 starts, he has a 12-3 record, 2.30 ERA, 2.60 fielding-independent pitching, 0.977 WHIP, and 3.74 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
To put things in perspective, Nola already has been worth 5.9 wins above replacement according to Baseball-Reference. He could not pitch another game this season and have the best season of any Phillie since Cole Hamels in 2014. If Nola makes 32 starts this year (which he should) he is on pace for 9.4 wins above replacement by the end of the season. The last Phillie to have that good of a season? Steve Carlton in 1980.
Nola was an easy selection for the All-Star Game and could very well win the actual Cy Young award this year with the kind of season he is having.
Runners-up: Zach Eflin, Seranthony Dominguez
Most Valuable Player: Cesar Hernandez
This is the award I struggled to decide on the most. There were three deserving candidates in my mind (if you don’t count Aaron Nola) but in the end, I settled on Cesar Hernandez. When you look at the full picture, he is the only Phillie that has checked all the boxes.
Hernandez has played in every game so far, starting 92 of 95 and entering as a pinch-hitter in the other three. He has been about as consistent as possible with relatively similar numbers every month. In 423 plate appearances, Hernandez has a .270/.378/.382 line with a 14.4 percent walk rate, 20.6 percent strikeout rate, 112 wRC+, and 107 OPS+. He leads the team in win probability added.
Where Hernandez got the edge for me is his defensive and baserunning value. He leads the team with 14 stolen bases while being caught stealing only twice. Of the three I considered, Hernandez had the best ultimate zone rating, defensive runs saved, and Fangraphs defensive value.
The argument could very well be made for either of the runners-up, but I tend to value production in all aspects of the game more than standing out in one facet. It was very close in my head and it shouldn’t be held against the others.
Runners-up: Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera
Rookie of the Year: Seranthony Dominguez
This was also a pretty easy decision. Since being promoted to the major leagues, Seranthony Dominguez has been the anchor in an otherwise unsteady bullpen.
In 28 appearances, Dominguez has a 1.60 ERA, 1.69 fielding-independent pitching, 0.65 WHIP, and 7.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Gabe Kapler immediately started using him in high-leverage situations and he has delivered, recording nine saves and 10 holds while blowing only one save.
Since his debut, Dominguez ranks second in WHIP, ninth in K/BB, eight in opposing batting average, eighth in strikeouts, and 18th in ERA among 164 relievers with 20 or more innings pitched. He has already come in and established himself as one of the top relievers in the game just over two months into his major-league career.
When you think about the fact that this is the first season Dominguez has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen, it only makes his mercurial rise to Philadelphia look even better.
Runners-up: Jorge Alfaro, Victor Arano
Biggest Disappointment: Scott Kingery
While plenty of players have taken a step up this year, not everyone has been having success. One of the bigger letdowns of the season has been the performance of Scott Kingery. The bar was set high when he signed a six-year contract extension before ever playing a major-league game. So far, the contract has not looked good.
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In 91 major-league games, Kingery has a .237/.282/.338 line with a 24.0 percent strikeout rate and a 5.6 percent walk rate. He has been barely replacement-level with 0.1 oWAR while producing little defensively with -0.3 dWAR.
In Kingery’s defense, he was thrown in a bad situation. He started the year not playing on a consistent basis, starting all over the diamond when given the chance.
Kingery has been forced to play out of position at shortstop after spending almost all of his minor-league career at second base. His defense has been far better recently, but he is still prone to errors and has -4 defensive runs saved.
Overall, Kingery has failed to reach the expectations his contract set. He was supposed to spend at least the first part of this season honing his craft in Triple-A, but instead got thrown into the major leagues. His lack of production was one of the main reasons why the team pursued Manny Machado so hard.
Runners-up: Carlos Santana, Hector Neris, Aaron Altherr, Tommy Hunter
Comeback Player of the Year: Zach Eflin
I will end this article on a positive note, taking a look at a great success story this year. Zach Eflin showed promise his first two seasons, but injuries and inconsistency have kept him from fulfilling that promise. Now, that is starting to change.
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Eflin started the year in Triple-A as Ben Lively won the fifth spot in the rotation, but an early injury to Lively had Eflin back in the majors in May. He became a mainstay the rest of the first half up until the last day when a finger blister forced him to the disabled list. It shouldn’t impede him for long.
In 12 starts this year, Eflin has logged 68.2 innings, posting a 3.15 ERA, 3.03 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, and 4.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The only pitcher who has better numbers than Eflin in the rotation has been Aaron Nola. That isn’t a bad person to be second-best to.
2018 has been a breakout season for Eflin so far.
He has given no reason to think he will fall off in the second half, and the team will need him at his best for the coming playoff push.
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Runners-up: Maikel Franco, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez