As the baseball regular season is coming to a close and the Dodgers are looking like they did in the beginning of the season, it is a perfect time to reflect and put some thought into who the most important player has been for the Dodgers this season.
While there is no clear answer, there is a short list of possible candidates. Of the fielders, Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig, and Hanley Ramirez (and JUAN URIBE!! well he deserves a shout-out at least). Of the pitchers, Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, and Kenley Jansen (and Josh Beckett! 0-5 with a 5.19 era is not that bad... if your name is Brandon League, maybe).
From this crop of fielders, Adrian Gonzalez has been the most consistent Dodger all year. His batting average has been within ten points of where it is now since April, and the fact that his average is around .300 means he has been hitting pretty well. He is up to 95 RBIs and likely to have another 100+ RBI year which shows how important he has been in helping the Dodgers score runs. The fact no one else on the team will likely finish with 75+ RBIs shows how consistent Gonzalez has been. He has had many clutch hits including his walk-off single last Thursday in the 10th inning. His fielding has been above average as usual. He has been the whole package (minus speed) all year, making him one of my three finalists.
Yasiel Puig has been the main story of the Dodgers this year. As soon as he was called up he starting making an impact. He was on fire his first month of play and while his average has consistantly been decreasing ever since, his batting average is still superb and has had some amazing plays and hits. What is most important is that when he was called up to the majors the Dodgers were in dead last. Just over a couple of months later the Dodgers took the division lead and have not looked back since and are now just a couple of games away from clinching the division title. Puig has hit his share of big home runs and made some amazing catches helping the Dodgers win many games. He has a really good shot at winning the Rookie of the Year award, and is also a finalist in my Dodgers MVP race.
Hanley Ramirez is having one of his best seasons. His average is right around where it was when he won the batting title a few years ago and he has played extremely well. He missed a large portion of the first half of the season though due to a couple of different injuries. So while he has not missed that many more games than Puig has, I believe it is not enough to be called the most valuable player of the team. If he had the same stats over the entire season that would be a different story, but despite his high average, and relatively high number of home runs and RBIs he is not my Dodgers season MVP.
Of the pitchers, Kenley Jansen has made a household name for himself this year. He began the season as a regular reliever in the bullpen, but after Brandon League blew save after save, Jansen became the closer of the team and responded extremely well. He has a sub-2.00 ERA and a ridiculous strikeout to walk ratio. He has pitcher very well this season and is a dominant closer, but I find it hard to name a reliever as the team MVP.
Zach Greinke has had an interesting season of his own. He began the season pitching decently and then the infamous fight against the Padres led to a broken collarbone which sidelined Greinke for over a month. Ever since he came back from the disabled list he has been lights out winning what seems like every start. He has become the second ace the Dodgers wanted to have when they signed him last offseason and he is showing how dominant of a pitcher he can be. Due to his missed time and the fact he has not even been the best pitcher on the team this year, he is not the Dodgers' MVP.
Clayton Kershaw has had yet another great year. His ERA is under 2.00 and is on pace to win his third straight league ERA title. He leads the league in strikeouts and innings pitched and has pitched almost perfect throughout the whole season. He has pitched well when the Dodgers were doing poorly and he has pitched well when the Dodgers were winning almost every game. He is proving himself to be baseball's best pitcher and with that consideration he is a finalist in the Dodger's MVP race.
With Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig, and Clayton Kershaw as the Dodgers' MVP finalists, it is hard to declare one as the the most valuable. All three are extremely valuable to the point where the Dodgers would probably not be playoff bound without any one of them. Also, there are a couple weeks left in the season in which anything could happen making one of these three players more or less likely to be the MVP of the team. But one has to be the MVP at least at this point. Sadly, I cannot pick Kershaw as the MVP. Pitchers already have a tougher time getting the award and the fact he has not been himself in his last few starts has taken him out of this race. a 14-9 record is still good and he deserves a better one, but a pitcher with that record cannot be the MVP of a team.
So is it Puig or Gonzalez? As I am writing this I still am not even sure who I will choose. As mentioned earlier Gonzalez has been consistent all year and leads the Dodgers in most offensive categories. Puig has had stellar play and since his arrival the Dodgers have gone from worst to first. Puig definitely was a primary reason the Dodgers were winning the first month or two he was in the majors, but Gonzalez has been the primary reason they have been winning the rest of the season. So as close as it is, at this point of the season Adrian Gonzalez has to be the team's MVP. Puig is important, but he did not play the first two months and while the Dodger's weren't great before Puig arrived, someone had to help the Dodgers win some games before he arrived. That someone was Gonzalez from an offensive and defensive side. He was the primary person the Dodgers wanted in the big trade last year and he has so far made it seem worthwhile to the Dodgers. So while Adrian Gonzalez has no real shot of being the National League's MVP, he is the Dodger's MVP in my books.
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