Acuña Should Win Easy MVP Over Mookie
PLUS: MANAGERIAL FIELD CERTAIN TO DO SOME SEISMIC SHIFTING
IBWAA members love to write about baseball. So much so, we've decided to create our own newsletter about it! Subscribe to Here's the Pitch to expand your love of baseball, discover new voices, and support independent writing. Original content six days a week, straight to your inbox and straight from the hearts of baseball fans.
Reader Reacts
Couldn't agree more with your writing about the wild card. I remember Don Imus saying on the first day of the NHL season some years ago, "Well, I see the Rangers lost their first game, thus clinching a playoff spot."
Teams should try for excellence, not for mediocrity. If that means improving your farm system, okay. If that means spending money more wisely, go do it.
— Doug Lyons, New York
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Converted reliever Michael King has pitched like royalty since moving into the Yankees’ starting rotation . . .
Thanks top Kodai Senga, who could be in the running for NL Rookie of the Year, the Mets may have a leg up on pending free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes . . .
Any team that trades for Angels superstar Mike Trout will have to take on his remaining contact, calling for seven years at $35.45 million per season . . .
Third baseman Matt Chapman and outfielder-first baseman Cody Bellinger loom as the top position players in the upcoming free-agent market . . .
Warning to the Braves: only seven times in the last 28 years has the team with the best record during the regular season also won the World Series.
Leading Off
Acuña Trumps Mookie In Race for 2023 NL MVP
By Dan Schlossberg
It isn’t even close.
Ronald Acuña, Jr. and Mookie Betts are right-fielders for the best teams in the National League, the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively.
They are both right-handed lead-off batters with speed, power, and strong throwing arms.
Both have won World Series rings, though Acuña was injured and unable to play when the Braves won the 2021 world championship.
Arguably the two best players in the National League, if not all of baseball, they are likely to finish first and second in the MVP voting that follows the World Series.
But, getting back to the first four words in this article, it shouldn’t be close.
So what if Betts played second base and even shortstop when his team needed him?
The Braves had veteran All-Stars at both positions in Orlando Arcia and Ozzie Albies so there was no need to move Ronald, though he has indeed worked out at shortstop during infield practice.
Giving Betts the benefit of his versatility in the MVP voting is ridiculous, especially when baseball precedent is considered. Hank Aaron played 27 games at second base in 1955 but finished only ninth in the MVP voting that fall.
The fact is that Acuña is having a historic season, one that may never be duplicated by anyone, including Acuna himself.
The 25-year-old Venezuelan, entering play Friday, stood head and shoulders over the diminutive Betts in virtually every statistical category.
With a leadoff homer in Washington Friday night, he produced the fifth 40/40 season in baseball history. He already had the first 30/60 season (that many home runs and stolen bases) and could make it 40/70 depending on the weather in Washington this weekend and what he does in the last week of the season.
With 68 stolen bases, he’s within striking distance of Otis Nixon’s Atlanta franchise record for stolen bases (72) and even has an outside chance to catch Miami’s Luis Arraez for the NL batting crown.
When the weekend began, Acuña led the baseball world with 705 plate appearances, 617 at-bats, 207 hits, 140 runs scored, 68 stolen bases, 365 total bases, a .414 on-base percentage, 1.006 OPS, and 167 OPS+. Mookie Betts leads the league in nothing — nada — except hype from the L.A. press, which happens to be triple the size of the Atlanta press corps.
Before Friday, they were even in home runs with 39 apiece. Acuña also is ahead of Betts in batting (.335 to .309) and slugging (.592) while Betts leads in MVP awards already won (1). Should Betts win again, he’ll join Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to take the trophy in both leagues.
But that’s no reason to elect him.
This whole election fiasco smacks of the same injustice that befell earlier Atlanta outfielder Andruw Jones in 2005, when his 51 home runs, 128 RBIs, and Gold Glove defense in center field clearly overshadowed Albert Pujols, who topped Jones only in batting average (.330) but trailed badly in power production (41 homers, 117 RBI) even though he led the NL with 129 runs scored.
Pujols wound up with his first of three MVP awards, while Jones was denied one he deserved — and then penalized in Hall of Fame voting because writers said he never won an MVP. Yeah, probably the same writers who snubbed him once did it again.
Post-season performance doesn’t count toward awards voting so it doesn’t matter what the Braves or Dodgers do once the playoffs begin.
During the 162-game marathon, though, Acuña used all his speed to run away from the field. And that means Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson too.
He should win and he should win big.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is national baseball writer for forbes.com and contributor to a myriad of other outlets. He’s also the author of 40 baseball books. Contact him via ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Handful of Changes Likely Among Managers
By Dan Schlossberg
With the season now in its next-to-last weekend, it’s a wonder that all 30 major-league managers have survived with nary a scratch.
That’s unusual. And it’s about to change.
Terry Francona, celebrated manager of the Boston Red Sox before joining the Cleveland Guardians, is about to retire because of persistent health issues. He’s got a lock on a future plaque in the Hall of Fame gallery.
Buck Showalter, winner of four Manager of the Year awards despite never winning a pennant, is unlikely to return now that the New York Mets have hired David Stearns as president of baseball operations.
Stearns will try to convince Craig Counsell, well-respected manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, to follow his flight from Brewtown to Flushing.
Like Counsell, Dusty Baker’s contract is expiring in Houston. The oldest manager in the majors at age 74, he has a friend in Astros GM Dana Brown but that doesn’t mean he’ll be back at the helm after a rough year.
Baker could even wind up somewhere else — maybe as a replacement for rookie pilot Pedro Grifol on the South Side of Chicago or as successor to Bob Melvin, who lost his magic touch in San Diego.
Two managers virtually certain to be fired a month ago have received surprising endorsements from their GMs. That means Oli Marmol will return to St. Louis after the Cards dropped into the basement of the NL Central while Dave Martinez will be back in Washington, which is keeping last place warm in the NL East.
There could be a change in Boston, where the Red Sox might promote field manager Alex Cora to general manager and bring a new man into their dugout.
And let’s not forget the Bronx, where Aaron Boone has been on the firing line all summer, along with general manager Brian Cashman. Both have been busts this season.
There are plenty of familiar faces available to manage, including Joe Girardi, Fredi Gonzalez, Ozzie Guillen, Joe Maddon, and Mike Shildt, among others.
Much depends on the men in the front office. The White Sox, Red Sox, Tigers, and Mets have already made major changes, entrusting their futures to a new group of leaders.
By the time owners meet in November, all 30 teams should be poised for 2024 but fans may need a scorecard to tell who’s who and who’s where.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of 41 baseball books, including The New Baseball Bible. Catch his byline in forbes.com, Memores & Dreams, Sports Collectors Digest, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, and other outlets. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
“I don’t really have any thought about it. It’s ultimately not my decision. My job is to try to do the best I can to get this team ready to go and put us in the best position not only tonight but moving forward and I’m going to continue to do that to the best of my ability.”
— Yankees manager Aaron Boone on his job security
Jason Heyward has not only given the Dodgers a great clubhouse presence but has posted the best OPS (.848) of his career . . .
Traded Mets outfielder Tommy Pham, now with Arizona, says his former New York teammates were “the least hardest-working group of position players” he’s ever been around . . .
Max Fried’s continued finger blister problems have ended his season early (with an 8-1 record and 2.00 ERA) but Atlanta’s lefty ace will be ready to start the first or second game of the National League Division Series . . .
Under-performing Giancarlo Stanton, whose ridiculous contract doesn’t expire until the 2027 season ends, is still owed $98 million by the Yankees and $30 million by the Marlins . . .
Ronald Acuña, Jr. is the first player to score 140 runs in a season in 16 years.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.