Thank you for that lovely introduction. You’re a great crowd. And it’s a thrill to be here, to hand out those awards you’ve been waiting all season to tell me I got wrong.
I look forward to this column every year. You look forward to disagreeing with every word of this column every year. So, as usual, this is going to be special.
As is also the case every year, it looks like this annual baseball awards extravaganza will not be hosted by Nate Bargatze, Nate McLouth, Nate Newton, Wayne Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Paul McCartney or Sir Paul Konerko. Which means I’ll just have to do it myself.
So here they come, my annual year-end awards.
AL MVP: Aaron Judge, Yankees
Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh are both making history. There are no wrong answers in this debate. (Ishika Samant / Getty Images)
There’s a voice in my head screaming: You’re not picking Cal Raleigh? You’re such a dope!
Then again, that voice knows how much I wrestled with this. There haven’t been many years in the history of this award where any of us could look at a catcher who …
• Has hit 60 freaking homers …
• While leading his team to its first division title in 24 years …
• And putting his stamp on one of the best (and most important) pitching staffs in baseball …
And still come away thinking someone else is the MVP.
But I somehow did that, for one overpowering reason:
The catcher for the Mariners isn’t the only man in this debate who’s making history.
I don’t know if it’s hit you yet that Aaron Judge is having another one of those seasons. It’s easier to lock in on when all you have to do is count home runs. But just because Judge isn’t going to make that kind of history this year, we shouldn’t overlook the staggering season he is having, while reviving his team from an August funk and leading it back to October.
Unless something weird happens this weekend, he’s going to lead his league in average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, runs scored, total bases, walks, most times on base, Win Probability Added and wins above replacement. Does that seem good?
Here’s how good it is. The MVP award has existed, in its present form, since 1931. If Judge wins, this will be the complete list of players who have led either league in all those categories in a season since 1931:
Ted Williams, 1942
Ted Williams, 1947
Aaron Judge, 2025
OK, now just for kicks, let’s take walks and WPA out of it. That adds these three names:
Stan Musial, 1948
Frank Robinson, 1966
Carl Yastrzemski, 1967
What a list. And you might be interested in knowing that every one of those guys won an MVP election that year. But that’s not all, because …
Judge is orbiting a whole different planet — And by that, I mean this: Check out the distance between him and the next best hitters in his league in the three categories that define the greatness of modern hitters: OBP, slugging percentage and OPS.
OBP — by 63* points (over George Springer).
Slugging percentage — by 83* points (over Raleigh).
OPS — by 177* points (over Raleigh).
(*through Wednesday)
What a landslide. Or is that three landslides? Again, let’s go back to 1931, when the MVP was born. Here are all the hitters in the 95 seasons since then who have led their league in OBP by 50-plus points, in slugging by 80-plus points and in OPS by at least 100 points:
Ted Williams, four times (1941-42-47-49)
Barry Bonds, four times (2001-02-03-04)
End of list!
He’s twice as good as everyone else — Just because Judge’s Adjusted OPS+ is more than 200 over the last four seasons combined (at 208) doesn’t mean we should be allowed to take it for granted. So let’s not, OK?
A 200 OPS+ literally means that a player’s OPS is twice as good as the average player’s OPS in his league. It seems hard to do that in one year. But the captain of the Yankees now does that every year.
So once again, since Judge is currently rocking a ridiculous 210 OPS+ this season, I looked back at everyone in the MVP era who finished a season at 204 or higher (just to factor in some wiggle room in case he goes, say, 0-for-the-weekend). Here’s what I found:
• That’s been done 23 times (over a full season) since 1931. Everyone who has done it in that span is a Hall of Famer — except for Judge and two PED era exiles, Bonds and Mark McGwire.
• You might think having a season that good guaranteed all those guys an MVP award. Ha. Are you familiar with the tortured logic MVP voters once used, back when they all wore straw hats? So naturally, eight of those seasons did not lead to an MVP trophy. But most of those happened a long, long time ago — four times just to Ted Williams, plus once each to Babe Ruth (1931) and Lou Gehrig (1934).
• In the expansion era, however, it’s a different story. Only twice, in the last 65 seasons, has anybody had a season that good and not been the MVP. Once was 1961, when Mickey Mantle finished second to Roger (61 Homer) Maris. The other was 1998, when Mark (70 Homer) McGwire was the runner-up to Sammy Sosa.
The funny thing is, both Mantle and McGwire lost to a man who joined the 60-Homer Club. And maybe that tells you that since Raleigh has now charged into that club, precedent is saying he should be the MVP. But I disagree. Here’s what I think history is actually telling us:
There are no wrong answers in this debate! I wish I could cast this imaginary vote for the catcher for the Mariners. But it’s not an insult to Raleigh to say he finished second to the greatest right-handed hitter of the last 100 years: Aaron J. Judge.
My AL MVP top 10: 1. Judge; 2. Raleigh; 3. Bobby Witt Jr.; 4. José Ramírez; 5. Tarik Skubal; 6. Julio Rodríguez; 7. George Springer; 8. Garrett Crochet; 9. Jeremy Peña; 10. Nick Kurtz.
NL MVP: Sorry, I vote on this!
Shohei Ohtani could win his fourth MVP award in five seasons. (Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
Time for my annual apology in this space. In a few days, I’ll be casting an official vote for this award, so I’m not permitted to reveal what my ballot will look like.
But I can tell you I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. I can tell you I think that 56 homers doesn’t come close to describing Kyle Schwarber’s value to the Phillies. And I’ve decided that Juan Soto is having a power/speed/patience season that has been matched only by some guy named Barry Bonds. And I’m pretty sure that Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo is now the answer to the question: Who’s the most underrated player in baseball?
Then there’s that man named Ohtani, who is putting on another one of those Shohs only he could unleash. So I think there’s something you need to know about Ohtani’s latest, greatest season. Which is that … only the legends of baseball do the stuff this man is doing. You understand that, right?
He’s leading the league in … OPS (1.010), slugging (.619), runs scored (144), times on base (280), total bases (373), extra-base hits (87), Win Probability Added (5.9) and FanGraphs’ version of WAR (7.2). He has also bopped 54 homers, which means he could still lead the league in that, too.
So how many players have ever reached those thresholds in OPS and slugging — and piled up that many runs, homers, times on base, total bases and extra-base hits in the same season? Here’s the list. You won’t need to ask ChatGPT who these guys were:
Babe Ruth, 1920-21-27-28
Hack Wilson, 1930
Jimmie Foxx, 1932
Hank Greenberg, 1938
Sammy Sosa, 2001
Alex Rodriguez, 2008
So that’s four Hall of Famers — from the 1920s and ’30s … but only two PED-shaded dudes in the nine decades since. Let’s just say that got my attention. But also …
Have you heard Ohtani also has this super-cool hobby, where he pitches once a week? It’s true. And there seems to be this narrative out there that he isn’t that good at that cute hobby of his anymore. Except …
His ERA is 2.87. That’s better than Bryan Woo! His WHIP is 1.04. That’s better than Max Fried! His strikeout rate is 11.9 per nine innings. That’s better than Paul Skenes!
So I’m not saying I’m voting for the man who did all that. I would never fully decide anything until this regular season is in the rear-view mirror. But when I notice stuff, I enjoy passing it along, because that’s what this column is for.
Names on my potential NL MVP list (in alphabetical order): Pete Alonso, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Freddie Freeman, Nico Hoerner, Francisco Lindor, Ketel Marte, Ohtani, Matt Olson, Freddy Peralta, Perdomo, Cristopher Sánchez, Schwarber, Skenes, Soto, Will Smith, Fernando Tatis Jr., Kyle Tucker, Brice Turang, Trea Turner, Christian Yelich.
AL Least Valuable Player (LVP): Javier Báez (second-half edition), Tigers
Javier Báez and the Tigers have had second halves to forget. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
“Perennial LVP candidate Javy Báez” is not an expression I ever expected to find myself uttering. Not in the good old days anyway. Not when this whirling dervish was the most entertaining, free-swinging, wacky-tag-applying infielder on the North Side of Chicago.
But hey, here we are. Again. I didn’t see this coming when the Tigers’ suddenly revived shortstop was somehow starting in the All-Star Game … in center field … as recently as two months ago. But has anything changed in Detroit since then? Just checking.
So as this beautiful Tigers season has dissolved into a terrifying episode of Nightmare on Montcalm Street, the job responsibilities that go with handing out Least Valuable Player awards meant I had to look at this second half way too closely.
That’s when it hit me: All-Star Game starter Javy has turned into Perennial LVP candidate Javy right before our eyes. And hard as I tried, I was unable to look the other way.
So here’s what this man’s fun little All-Star revival season has turned into:
A .205/.213/.288 slash line (entering Thursday) since the break! That translates to an OPS+ of 38! If you’re thinking that’s not good, you’re a shrewd judge of LVP credentials. Báez ranks dead last in the AL in OPS+ and OBP in that period. And I haven’t even mentioned the numbers inside those numbers.
But now here they come!
In more than two months of baseball since that All-Star Game, Báez had “produced” one home run … and four doubles … and 40 strikeouts … and one walk.
In games away from Detroit, he’s slashing .176/.184/.203, which FanGraphs translates into a wRC+ of (gulp) minus-1.
And have I mentioned his strikeout/walk rate is a little messy? His last walk came on Aug. 24. That was 25 games ago. The walk before that came on June 24. Since then, he’s been firing off a slash line of .199/.206/.284, with (deep breath now) 51 strikeouts and one walk.
His last home run was on Aug. 2. That was 47 games ago. His last double was Aug. 15. That was 35 games ago.
Normally, in these LVP deliberations, I don’t tend to cancel out good first halves just because they’ve been overpowered by grizzly second halves. But this is an unfortunate special case. The Tigers might be about to finish off the worst collapse of all time. So it’s only natural to connect the dots between collapses and LVP awards.
And when I followed those dots, they led me to “Perennial LVP candidate Javy Báez.” So what choice did I have? Somebody had to be the symbolic face of this slide. I think we found our man.
My AL LVP “top” three: 1. Báez; 2. Tyler O’Neill (and many other Orioles, to be honest); 3. Luis Robert Jr.
NL LVP: The Marcell, Ozzie & Michael Show, Braves
A trio of LVPs are bringing home the hardware for the Braves. (Christopher Hanewinckel / Imagn Images)
Let’s talk for a moment about what a Least Valuable Player is and isn’t.
What it isn’t: A dumping ground for the ugliest stats of the year, as compiled by players you’ve barely heard of, for teams that were mathematically eliminated on, say, Easter Sunday.
What it is, on the other hand: A place where we can look at teams that watched the world turn upside-down and say: Oof, this guy was right in the middle of all that.
Except sometimes, on some teams, it isn’t just one guy. I’ve decided the 2025 Braves were one of those teams.
Michael Harris II was my first-half LVP. Marcell Ozuna was the June-through-September LVP. And somewhere in there was Ozzie Albies, who pretty much never bore any resemblance to that energizer who played second base for the Braves from 2018-23.
So is it legal to present this award to the three of them? Wait, I just realized this is my column, so I make up all those rules. In other words, of course it is. So here’s why these three culprits got dragged into this.
Harris — I’ve always been a big fan of his. So what the heck happened? First Half Michael was pretty much the worst offensive player in the sport.
His .234 on-base-percentage ranked dead last among qualifying hitters. His 54 OPS+ also ranked last — and meant an average replacement player was twice as good a hitter as he was.
He went 49 straight games without a walk in May, June and July … then had another stretch where he drew one walk in 49 games in July, August and September. So he still has the lowest walk rate in the National League and still ranks last in OBP among all qualifying hitters.
I know his first-half LVP award clearly inspired him to pick it up in the second half — to the tune of .295/.312/.520, with 13 homers. So I almost bumped him off this list. But that first half is when the Braves’ season crashed and burned. So even though I’m sure he has a bright future, this is a 2025 award. Sorry, Michael!
Ozuna — Ozuna, on the other hand, was actually one of the Braves’ most productive hitters early. On June 1, he was hitting .284/.427/.474/.901 with 10 homers … whereupon (regrettably) the season forgot to end there.
Since then, he’s hitting .199, which ranks second to last among the 81 NL hitters with 300 plate appearances … and slugging .359, which ranks 74th … and has been worth minus-0.4 WAR, according to FanGraphs, which seems not that valuable.
He hit .188 in June, .167 in July and .145 in August. You get the idea.
Albies — This dude was one of the Braves’ most lovable players through their run of division titles. But he, too, had a disastrous first half (.220/.290/.316). And he was so un-clutchy, his minus-2.7 Win Probability Added was tied for the second worst in baseball.
Like Harris, he also picked it up in the second half before fracturing a hamate bone this week. But when you’re having a season like the Braves were having (before the last two weeks), there’s nothing more hollow than saying about anybody: At least he was good for a few weeks.
The story of the Braves’ season was shocking under-achievement. And I think we just pointed out the three biggest poster boys. Which is what LVPs are made of.
My NL LVP “top” three: 1. Harris/Ozuna/Albies; 2. Oneil Cruz; 3. Jordan Walker.
AL Cy Young: Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Tarik Skubal could become just the third lefty to win back-to-back Cy Youngs. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
As long as our standard for the Cy Young Award doesn’t include auditioning to be the long snapper for the Lions, Tarik Skubal has mostly managed to absolve himself of blame for the Tigers’ historic cliff dive. Which means he’s closing in on rarified Cy Young repeater territory. I’ll tell you just how rarified momentarily.
Maybe, if you don’t live in the 313 area code, you’re already grumbling: Hey, how ’bout those spectacular seasons of Garret Crochet, Max Fried, Hunter Brown and Bryan Woo, you knucklehead.
Listen, those guys can pitch for my team as soon as I remember to buy one. And if there were no such human as Skubal, I’d be cool with delivering a Cy Young trophy to any one of them. But when I watch the ace of the Tigers pitch, I always think he’s floating at a different altitude than everyone in this sport not named Paul Skenes.
I laid out my reasons in my midseason awards column. Honestly, nothing has changed, other than one surreal, bunt-a-palooza inning in Cleveland this week. So I’m going to do something I’ve never done — and just update all the stuff I said about him in July.
I wrote in July that Skubal is so dominating, he makes me wonder how many hitters would rather rake the infield with a salad fork than hit against him. I have an update: I now wonder how many hitters would rather cook hot dogs for the entire ballpark on Dollar Dogs Night than hit against him. Either way, here’s what still makes me think that:
Nobody hits him! Hitters have a sub-.250 OBP against Skubal, whether they’re left-handed, right-handed, playing at home or on the road. Cleanup hitters have hit .131, “slugged” .214 and hit one homer against him. No. 3 hitters? They’re batting .182, with a .217 OBP and two extra-base hits. Leadoff men have a .271 OBP and have scored 10 runs in 31 starts. You know what the Guardians would say to all that? Bunt more!
Left-on-left crime! Skubal has faced 148 left-handed hitters this season. He has allowed exactly five to score a run. He has served up one home run to those guys. And his strikeout/walk ratio is a picturesque 44 to 2! That’ll work!
He just finished the streak of the century! The Tigers lost the first two games Skubal started this year. Over his next 26, which took him all the way into September, he went 13-2, with a 1.86 ERA, 212 strikeouts and 24 walks. You know who else has had a 26-stretch like that one — with 200 K’s, less than 25 walks and an ERA under 2.00? According to Baseball Reference, nobody would be a good guess!
He has no fear of the bat! I’ve been thinking the same thing for two years when I watch Skubal work his magic. Nothing — and nobody — scares him. He pours one pitch after another into that strike zone — and no one hits them.
According to Sports Info Solutions, Skubal has thrown the highest percentage of pitches inside the zone (48.3 percent) of any full-time starter in baseball this season. Yet his swing-and-miss rate on those pitches is also the highest in baseball (22 percent). Who does that?
I went back more than 20 years, as far back as Sports Info Solutions’ data exists. You know who else had an in-the-zone percentage and a swinging-strike percentage that good in any of those seasons? As usual, that answer is nobody.
The next-closest left-handed starter I could find? That would be the 2002 edition of Randy Johnson. Whatever happened to that guy?
Speaking of Randy! If this vote goes how I think it’s going to go, Skubal is going to pull off a feat that will elevate him into yet another stratosphere — because that will make it two Cy Youngs in a row. Let’s now reveal how rarified that airspace would be:
• Only two left-handed starters have won Cy Youngs back to back: the Big Unit (four in a row, beginning in 1999) and Clayton Kershaw (2013-14).
• And the only starters, from the left or right side, to do that in American League history are these three nobodies: Pedro Martinez (1999-2000), Roger Clemens (twice) and Jim Palmer (1975-76). None of them are left-handed by the way.
So don’t let one bizarre evening in Cleveland, or the Tigers’ gruesome death spiral, make you think any nutty thoughts about this Cy Young race. Thanks to Skubal, at least one trophy is going to head for Detroit this fall.
My AL Cy Young top five: 1. Skubal; 2. Crochet; 3. Brown; 4. Fried; 5. Woo.
NL Cy Young: Paul Skenes, Pirates
Paul Skenes had a spectacular season — you have permission to ignore his won-lost record. (Justin Berl / Getty Images)
For the last 70 seasons, we haven’t asked much of our Cy Young heroes. Just put a slew of zeroes on the board every time you pitch … oh, and also … maybe try to have a winning record?
But then along came the 2025 Pirates — a team perfectly content to look over the stuff we used to think was routine for the average Cy Young winner and say: Ha. Get over it.
So thanks to the fine work of the Pirates’ mostly dysfunctional lineup and no-lead-is-safe bullpen, we’re about to witness a feat never before performed by any Cy Young starter in history:
Paul Skenes is probably going to win this award unanimously without having a winning record.
At least his won-lost record for this season isn’t below sea level. He finished up at exactly .500: 10-10. So it could have been worse. Heck, considering Skenes was somehow 4-8 at the All-Star break — because his team was so good at wasting his great work — it’s a miracle he even made it to 10-10.
So why will the voters not care about the “wins” (or lack thereof)? Let’s count the ways.
Because it sure wasn’t Skenes’ fault! You know how hard it is to have an ERA as low as Skenes’ (1.97) and as many innings as he pitched (187 2/3) and not have a winning record? It’s so hard that in the entire live-ball era (1920-present), no qualifying starter had ever done it … until now!
Because it sure wasn’t Skenes’ fault 2.0! So how the heck did this happen? C’mon. Are you familiar with the Pirates at all?
It happened because his offense scored one run or none for him 14 times (while he was in the game) in 32 starts. … It happened because his bullpen blew six saves in games he left with the lead (including his last start, Wednesday in Cincinnati). … It happened because he only earned a win in two starts all season in which he allowed more than zero earned runs — and won no games in which he allowed more than one earned run.
Because have you noticed we don’t care about wins anymore? In truth, we’ve been trending in this direction for 15 years now. So three previous Cy Young starters won this thing even though they were only one game over .500: Félix Hernández (13-12 in 2010), Jacob deGrom (10-9 in 2018) and Trevor Bauer (5-4 in the shortened pandemic season of 2020).
And as recently as 2018-19, deGrom won the NL Cy Young two seasons in a row, even though he went 10-9 in 2018 and 11-8 in 2019. So wins, schmins. Us savvy Cy Young voters are now smarter than you give us credit for.
Because when your ERA starts with a “1,” we get what that means! In the 15 years since King Félix kicked off the Wins Are Overrated era, 11 qualifying starters have finished a season with an ERA under 2.00. The only two who didn’t win the Cy Young — Zack Greinke (1.66) in 2015 and Dallas Keuchel (1.99) in 2020 — had the misfortune of losing to a guy who also had a sub-2.00 ERA (Jake Arrieta in 2015 and Shane Bieber in 2020).
Because guys who have seasons like this always win a Cy Young! In the six decades since we began handing out Cy Youngs in each league, here’s the complete list of qualifying starters who have had a season with …
A sub-2.00 ERA … a sub-1.00 WHIP … at least 200 strikeouts … and at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings:
Jacob deGrom, 2018
Blake Snell, 2018
Clayton Kershaw, 2014
Pedro Martinez, 2000
Pedro Martinez, 1997
And now Skenes, 2025
Guess what all of those men (pre-Skenes) have in common? They all won a Cy Young award in those seasons. What else?
So look, I understand and appreciate the special seasons of Cristopher Sánchez, Freddy Peralta, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Logan Webb and everyone else who’s in the argument here. But there’s a generational talent in Pittsburgh who has outpitched them all – no matter how few wins he got out of it.
My NL Cy Young top five: 1. Skenes; 2. Sánchez; 3. Peralta; 4. Yamamoto; 5. Webb.
AL Cy Yuk: Charlie Morton, Orioles/Tigers
Charlie Morton had brutal stretches with two teams. (Kevin Sousa / Getty Images)
Charlie Morton is one of my favorite humans on Planet Baseball. So I tried to talk myself out of presenting him with this prestigious Cy Yuk award. In the end, it just didn’t work.
I surveyed a bunch of friends and executives in the game. They tossed out other names, but many of those exchanges kept coming back to a guy who, unfortunately, played a role in torpedoing the October dreams of two AL teams in a very strange season.
An April for the birds — Who was the biggest-name free-agent pitcher the Orioles signed last winter? Morton was the name. It all felt so right. Then the season started.
By the end of April, their favorite free agent was 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA. The Orioles had been outscored in his six starts, 56-16. Hoo boy.
He ranked last in the AL in ERA, WHIP (2.18), runs allowed (29) and opponent OPS (.981). I’m leaving out a few other messy statistical lowlights, but you get the idea.
The Orioles were already buried in the AL East, never to recover. It was encouraging that Morton figured it out in his side sessions and bullpen work after that. And once he worked his way back into the rotation in late May, he went 7-1 with a 3.88 ERA, which at least enabled the Orioles to trade him to Detroit. It could have made for such a happy ending. Instead, he got …
Mowed down in Mo-town — It was all going great … for four starts. The Tigers kept streaking. Morton went 2-2 with a 3.63 ERA in his first four starts. He might have been their Game 2 or Game 3 starter in October if that’s how this had gone. However …
On Aug. 26, he took the mound in West Sacramento — and kicked off one of the most unfortunate stretches of his career. He would make five more starts. The Tigers went 0-5. Morton’s ERA in that stretch: 11.65, which ranked last in the American League.
He was walking nearly eight hitters per nine innings. The league hit .329 against him and slugged .611 over those five starts. I’ll spare you the rest, because here’s the important part:
When they handed him the baseball on Aug. 26, the Tigers had a 10 1/2-game lead in their division. Since that day, they’ve gone 8-18. They’re now zero games up. That isn’t Morton’s fault. Of course it’s not. He didn’t mean for any of this to happen.
But when a season goes off the rails like the Tigers’ season has spun off the tracks, that’s what Cy Yuk awards are made of. So this one goes to a man who really deserves better. But sometimes, Cy Yukkery happens, whether you deserve it or not.
My AL Cy Yuk “top” three: 1. Morton; 2. Walker Buehler; 3. Marcus Stroman.
NL Cy Yuk: The Rockies’ rotation
Antonio Senzatela, here being removed from a game in the first inning, is part of the Rockies’ rancid rotation. (Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)
Has anyone ever mentioned that Coors Field is the greatest Cy Yuk factory ever constructed? If not, you heard it here first — as we honor The Worst Rotation Ever.
This is not a column where we make those pronouncements casually, you know. They’re a result of voluminous research, deep reflection and, finally, the bolt-of-lightning realization that it was easier to drag the Rockies’ entire rotation into this mess than pick out just one member of this outfit.
All right, so technically, this group is not (quite) the Worst Rotation Ever — at least not at this exact moment I’m typing this. But that’s only because Felipe Lira’s 1996 Tigers are hanging onto that crown by their knuckles.
| ROTATION | ERA |
|---|---|
|
1996 Tigers |
6.64 |
|
2025 Rockies |
6.61* |
(Source: Baseball Reference / Stathead)
(*through Wednesday)
But do you really think that three-one-hundredths of a run difference is going to dissuade me from sticking to my story? No chance. Let’s run through the exploits of this group of Rockies starters, and I guarantee you’ll be on board, too.
Three-headed Monster Dept. — Picking out just three starters on this team who have had a rough year isn’t easy. But let’s start with these three:
Antonio Senzatela: 4-15, 6.84
Germán Márquez: 3-15, 6.49
Chase Dollander: 2-12, 6.52
Want to guess how many teams have ever had three starting pitchers in the same year who made at least 15 starts apiece, had a winning percentage under .250 and all had ERAs over 6.00? That would be one — the 2025 Rockies.
Pieces of Eight Dept. — But why would we stop there? Here are five other pitchers who have also started at least five games for the Rockies this season. Let’s see how that’s been going.
Bradley Blalock: 2-6, 9.36
Carson Palmquist: 0-4, 8.91
McCade Brown: 0-4, 7.54
Austin Gomber: 0-7, 7.49
Tanner Gordon: 6-8, 6.33
So that gets us up to eight pitchers who all have a losing record and ERAs that start with a “6” (or higher). This seems impossible, but somehow or other, it only ties the record for that sort of thing — because Spenser Watkins’ 2021 Orioles also had eight starters like that.
Gimme Five — But I’d hate to leave Kyle Freeland out of these festivities. On one hand, he “only” has a 5.00 ERA. On the other hand, he’s 5-16 and leading the league in losses. So that gives this team seven different starters with at least five starts, a 5.00 ERA or higher and a winning percentage under .250. Want to take a stab at how many other rotations have ever done that? Zero is always a tremendous guess at times like this.
Captain Hook — But this isn’t just about ERA. There’s winning and losing going on here, too, although, to be completely accurate, it’s mostly losing.
The won-lost record of this rotation? How about 22-90! That works out to a “winning” percentage of .196.
But guess what? That is not the modern record for worst winning percentage by a rotation. Jay Hook’s 1962 Mets hold that one — at 23-98 (.190) — and are now mathematically guaranteed of hanging on. Nevertheless, if your team finds itself in the same sentence as those legendary ’62 Mets, that doesn’t seem that encouraging.
Caution: Line Drive Zone ahead — All right, one more thing. I’d like to present the league leaderboard in highest opponent batting average allowed, among all NL starting pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched:
Blalock: .350
Senzatela: .348
Gomber: .325
Márquez: .318
Gordon: .306
Freeland: .294
I should probably confess here that I left out Washington’s Trevor Williams, who’s at .310. Still, six of the seven most hittable pitchers in the league pitch for one team? Whoa, what does that tell us?
Oh, you know what it tells us. We’re talking about The Worst Rotation Ever. Of course!
My NL Cy Yuk “top” three: 1. Rockies’ rotation; 2. Tanner Scott; 3. Cal Quantrill.
AL Rookie of the Year: Nick Kurtz, Athletics
Nick Kurtz has had one of the most impressive rookie seasons ever. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Some of these awards swirl around in my brain all night when I’m supposed to be dreaming of blue skies and tropical beaches. Then there are awards like this one.
Of course, Nick Kurtz is the AL Rookie of the Year. You were expecting maybe Jorbit Vivas?
Kurtz heads into the final weekend of his rookie season with a 1.010 OPS. Does it get your attention that that’s more than 50 points higher than a fellow named Cal Raleigh? It got mine. Raleigh has done it in over 200 more plate appearances, but still …
I know Kurtz has been hiding out all summer in a minor-league park in West Sacramento. And no Rookie of the Year in history has ever had that sentence typed about him. But I’m here to alert you that wherever he’s spun these magic tricks, he’s had one of the most sensational rookie seasons of modern times. Let’s take a look.
35 bombs and a 170 OPS+ — You may be stunned to hear this, but rookie mashers don’t normally have seasons like this. Sit back and gaze at this helpful list of all the rookies in history who have hit as many homers as Kurtz and had an Adjusted OPS at least 70 percent better than the league average:
| PLAYER | HR | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|
|
Aaron Judge, 2017 |
53 |
171 |
|
José Abreu, 2014 |
36 |
173 |
|
Nick Kurtz, 2025* |
35 |
170* |
End of list!
(*through Thursday)
35 bombs and a 1.000 OPS — Not all hitting environments are created equal. So let’s surgically remove the park-adjusted factor and look at how Kurtz stacks up against his raw, non-adjusted, rookie competition in OPS. Here are all the rookies in history with a 1.000 OPS and as many home runs as Kurtz:
| PLAYER | HR | OPS |
|---|---|---|
|
Aaron Judge, 2017 |
53 |
1.049 |
|
Albert Pujols, 2001 |
37 |
1.013 |
|
Rudy York, 1937 |
35 |
1.026 |
|
Nick Kurtz, 2025 |
35 |
1.010 |
(Source: Baseball Reference / Stathead)
York started spreading his OPS news before the invention of Rookies of the Year. As for everyone else on those two lists not named Kurtz, there’s a Rookie of the Year trophy still gleaming on their shelves.
But that’s not all — Because we’re also talking about the only rookie in history to bash four home runs in one game … and the man with the highest OPS (1.128) and slugging percentage (.690) of anyone in baseball since the All-Star break … and only the seventh rookie in history to slug over .600 in a season with at least 450 plate appearances. The others: Judge, Pujols, Ryan Braun, Mark McGwire, Ted Williams and Wally Berger.
Willams and Berger came along before there were any rookie awards. But you know how many of the others had a Rookie of the Year trophy to show for all that mashing? Right. All of them. And Kurtz is about to join them.
MY AL ROY top five: 1. Kurtz; 2. Jacob Wilson; 3. Roman Anthony; 4. Noah Cameron; 5. Carlos Narváez.
(Too small of a sample honorable mention: Colson Montgomery and Luke Keaschall.)
NL Rookie of the Year: Drake Baldwin, Braves
Only two catchers have won the Rookie of the Year award in the 2000s. Drake Baldwin could become the third. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Here’s a fun trivia quiz for you: Think you can name the only two catchers to win a Rookie of the Year award in the 21st century?
One was Buster Posey in 2010. The other? How can you forget Geovany Soto of the 2008 Cubs?
Well, we’re holding this pop-up session of Rookie Catcher Trivia Theater because I’m pretty sure there’s about to be a third member of that fraternity. Drake Baldwin, study up, because joining the ranks of rookie catchers who have won this award would be very cool.
Posey and Soto are the only two catchers to win it since Mike Piazza — 32 years ago. Only nine catchers have won this award, period. Every one of them went on to have a long, distinguished career. Three of them — Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk and Piazza — went on to give speeches in Cooperstown.
So I don’t know if there’s a plaque in Baldwin’s future. But it now sure is obvious why the Braves nudged Travis d’Arnaud out of Baldwin’s way last winter. They needed to open a spot for their next All-Star catcher — a guy with a sweet swing and a special presence.
More than 400 plate appearances into his rookie year, Baldwin has a higher batting average (.274), slugging percentage (.464) and OPS (.805) than William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto. But those guys have combined to play 18 seasons in the big leagues. For a rookie catcher to hit those marks, at age 24, isn’t just eye-opening. It’s historically eye-opening.
Since the first Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, only four rookie catchers have hit as many home runs as Baldwin (19), had as good an OPS+ (125) and matched or beat his slash line. You’ve heard of them.
Piazza, 1993
Fisk, 1972
Soto, 2008
Matt Nokes, 1987
Nokes didn’t get a Rookie of the Year trophy out of it thanks to a fellow named Mark McGwire. But the other three did. And the only reason to think that trend might not continue is the incredible second half of rookie Cubs pitcher Cade Horton (8-1, 1.03 ERA, 0.78 WHIP).
I came close to throwing Horton this vote myself. But he didn’t arrive in the big leagues until mid-May. Baldwin has been making an impact on the Braves since Opening Day.
No NL team has had more Rookies of the Year in the 2000s than Atlanta (four). That number is about to get bigger.
MY NL ROY top five: 1. Baldwin; 2. Horton; 3. Isaac Collins; 4. Caleb Durbin; 5. Daylen Lile.
(Too small of a sample honorable mention: Jakob Marsee, Nolan McLean, Chase Burns, Jacob Misiorowski.)
Managers of the Year: Pat Murphy, Brewers, and “Get back to me Sunday” in the AL
Pat Murphy has guided the Brewers to the best record in baseball. (John Fisher / Getty Images)
Did you know we’ve never had the same two managers win this award in back-to-back seasons? But holy schmoly, that might be a thing here in 2024-25.
Your two winners last year: the Brewers’ Pat Murphy and the Guardians’ Stephen Vogt. Your NL winner this year almost has to be Murph 2.0. But in the AL? Vogt’s team is firing up the greatest last-minute Manager of the Year campaign ever witnessed. I’m just not ready to make that call yet.
As I’ve mentioned before in this column, I would never make up my mind on an award like this before we’ve run out of regular-season baseball to change my mind. So how could anyone tell you today who the AL Manager of the Year is, when every possible race — all three divisions and the wild-card field — is still whirling around in the Cuisinart?
At first, for most of this season, I thought the Tigers’ A.J. Hinch was the Manager of the Year. Then I decided Toronto’s John Schneider might be the Manager of the Year.
Two weeks ago, Bruce Bochy had that look in Texas. Houston’s Joe Espada had a case once. The Mariners’ Dan Wilson might be the answer here. No Yankees or Red Sox manager has won in this century, but there are worse choices than Aaron Boone and Alex Cora.
And then there’s the incumbent. If the Guardians do what it looks as if they’re about to do — and finish first in a division they trailed in by 12 1/2 games four weeks ago, how can it not be Vogt? But my crystal ball is in the shop this week. So we’ll just have to wait to see how it all turns out.
Meanwhile in the NL, Murphy doesn’t have to sweat out that drama. It’s easy to forget that once upon a time, the Brewers were 0-4 this year — and had been outscored in those games, 47-15. Or that they still had a losing record on Memorial Day weekend. Now they’re the No. 1 seed in the sport.
But you know who hasn’t forgotten about how it all began? Murphy’s boss, Brewers general manager Matt Arnold.
“When we started the way we did,” Arnold told The Athletic, “we had to really look ourselves in the mirror and challenge ourselves and say: ‘Is this the team we are going to be?’”
And the man who helped them find the correct answer to that question was the king of the pocket pancakes, their manager.
“He just laid it down for the guys,” Arnold went on, “and said: ‘Are we going to be that team? Or are we going to be the team we know we can be?’ Any time you’re in a struggle or you’re in a fight, whether it’s in your personal life or on the field, you’re looking for somebody to help pick you up. And that’s what Murph does in such a great way for everybody.
“When you talk about leadership, that’s where it shines through, at times like that. A good team has to have leaders like Murph to help brake the ship. And I think he’s done a tremendous job.”
My NL Manager of the Year top five: 1. Murphy; 2. Clayton McCullough; 3. Rob Thomson; 4. Craig Counsell; 5. Torey Lovullo.
My AL Manager of the Year contenders: Vogt, Wilson, Schneider, Espada, Cora, Boone.
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic. Top photos: Scott Taetsch, Kevin C. Cox, Stacy Revere, Tim Warner / Getty Images)
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