In more than one column in recent years I have questioned the wisdom of baseball writers who vote for Mike Trout as the American League most valuable player or, as was the case last year, have voted for him second or their ballot when the team he plays for, the Angels, has had a losing record and a fourth-place finish. Trout will very likely receive those votes again this year.
Those voters, in their ignorance of the history of the award, confuse “most valuable” with “best.” To help them understand the idea of the award, I offer this example.
Whether the Astros or the Nationals win the World Series – the Astros are ahead three games to two with Game 6 scheduled for Tuesday night as I write this – I offer my selection as the most valuable player of the Series: Jose Urquidy.
A rookie pitcher with limited major league experience, Urquidy pitched in only one of the first five games and only five innings of that game, but his performance in that game turned the Series around and propelled the Astros into a position from which they could win the whole thing.
Before the World Series began, I remarked to a friend “the Nationals have good enough pitching to win the Series.” I didn’t predict that the Nationals would defeat the Astros, but I looked at Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Anibal Sanchez and Patrick Corbin and concluded the wild-card Nationals could win.
They indeed won the first two games with Scherzer and Strasburg starting, playing and pitching in Houston’s home park. The Astros lost with their two best starters, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander.
The Astros, however, came back and won Game 3 in Washington, which was the first World Series game played in the nation’s capital since 1933. Still trailing two games to one, A. J. Hinch, the Houston manager, had a difficult decision to make: Does he use Cole as the starting pitcher on three days’ rest, or does he resort to a bullpen treatment and save Cole for Game 5, with the Astros possibly down three games to one?
Hinch chose Jose Urquidy. Who?
Jose Urquidy is a 24-year-old right-handed Mexican, who in his rookie season this year saw limited playing time with the Astros. He started seven games and relieved in two others.
His performance against the Nationals was the best ever in the post-season by a rookie as he allowed only two hits, walked no one and threw only 67 pitches in five innings. I don’t have a vote, but if the Astros win the World Series, I would vote for Urquidy for World Series m.v.p.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Urquidy is only the second pitcher since baseball expanded its post-season format in 1969 to have a scoreless outing in his first World Series start. He joins Jon Lester of Boston (2007) in that unique position.
The only thing Cole, Verlander, Scherholz and Strasburg could do better than Urquidy is pitch more innings, though who averages 13 pitches an inning these days?
Had Urquidy failed in his critical assignment, the Astros could have been down three games to one. As it was, the rookie’s shutout performance was critical because the Astros scored half of their runs on Alex Bregman’s grand slam after Urquidy left the game.
Urquidy’s effort was made even more significant and impressive the next night when the Nationals encountered their own pitching dilemma. Scherzer was Washington’s scheduled starter for Game 5, but he woke up Sunday with neck and back pain and realized he would be unable to pitch.
Joe Ross, a 26-year-old reliever, got the assignment to start but was unable to match Urquidy’s performance. Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run in the second inning, and Carlos Correa did the same in the fourth.
No award for Ross, but he was one game closer than Urquidy to a World Series ring.
While Ross has done nothing exceptional for the Nationals, Urquidy used his unexpected opportunity to audition for the Astros’ rotation for next season. A team has to look more closely at a pitcher who did what he did in the circumstances in which he was placed.
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Then there’s my favorite sports writer, Zach Kram. Some of you may remember Zach when he wrote for this website before he went to work for The Ringer website.
Zach told me recently that before the baseball season began Ringer staff members were asked to predict what teams they thought would be in the World Series. Not surprisingly, Zach picked the Astros and the Nationals.
I say not surprisingly because I learned a long to time ago that Zach was pretty darn good at making predictions.
Before the 2000 season, Zach picked the White Sox to win the American League Central. What was unusual about that pick was not even the White Sox were picking the White Sox to win the division championship. The year before they finished with a 75-86 record.
And what was their 2000 record? 95-67, good for first place in the division. One more thing about that pick. Zach was 5 years old when he made it.