Although the 2015 Major League Baseball season ended the first weekend of October, MLB Awards Week didn’t wind down until Thursday, Nov. 19. The festivities began with the announcements of small awards, such as each league’s Reliever of the Year (New York’s Andrew Miller in the American League and Pittsburgh’s Mark Melancon in the National League). The American and National League Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards were next, followed by more awards including Players’ Choice and Defensive Player of the Year. The announcements would continue for another week, with each league’s top rookie, manager, pitcher and player named until Nov. 19.
The Silver Slugger Awards featured five first-timers in the American League, including Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, Seattle Mariners outfielder Nelson Cruz, Detroit Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez and Kansas City Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales. New York Yankees catcher Brian McCann and Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera paced the league with their sixth career win each.
In the Senior Circuit, four players received an award for being the top-hitters at their positions for the first time, namely Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford and Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen led the National League with his fourth career award.
On the other side of the ball, the Gold Glove awards awarded the top defensive players at their positions for their work with a glove. Yadier Molina, catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, won his eighth straight. Nine players across both leagues won for the first time in their careers, including former Detroit Tigers outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who played only 102 games in Detroit but still outpaced the Yankees’ Brett Gardner and Kansas City’s Alex Gordon for the left field honor.
Nov. 16 featured the reveal of the 2015 Baseball Writers Association of America Rookie of the Year Awards in the American and National Leagues. After whittling down the field to three finalists in each league, the writers unanimously named Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant NL Rookie of the Year. Bryant beat out San Francisco third baseman Matt Duffy and Pittsburgh shortstop Jung Ho Kang.
Bryant was a sensation for the NL wild card winning Cubs, tying Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most home runs by a rookie in 2015 with 26, and he led all first-year players in runs batted in (99), doubles (31), and runs scored (87).
In the Junior Circuit, Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa won a much closer race as the AL’s top rookie. He beat out Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor by just four votes, as well as Minnesota Twins DH Miguel Sano.
Correa, only called up by Houston in June, hit 22 homers, drove in 68 runs, stole 14 bases, and scored 52 runs while providing stellar defense as the Major League’s youngest position player.
The following day, Nov. 17, presented the top manager in each league with the 2015 BBWAA Manager of the Year Award. First-year manager Joe Maddon won for the Cubs in the National League, defeating St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and New York Mets manager Terry Collins. Jeff Banister, managing for the first time in his career (Maddon had previous experience with LA and Tampa Bay), took home the award in the AL. Banister won the award over fellow first-timers Paul Molitor of Minnesota and A.J. Hinch of Houston.
Maddon, Tampa Bay’s manager for nine seasons, jumped to Chicago to join mastermind Theo Epstein to head one of baseball’s most exciting young squads after 2014. Though the team finished in third place in its division and would eventually lose in the National League Championship Series to the NL Champion New York Mets, Maddon led the team to 97 wins, good for the third-best total in baseball.
Banister was hired by the Rangers after the 2014 season, beating out Rangers’ interim manager Tim Bogar and pitching coach Mike Maddux for the position. He guided the Rangers to an 88-74 finish, roaring down the stretch to surpass the upstart Astros and powerful Angels.
Nov. 18 revealed the 2015 Cy Young Awards, with Dallas Keuchel of the Astros and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs taking home the awards. Keuchel won over Toronto midseason acquisition David Price and Oakland phenom Sonny Gray, while Arrieta out pitched the Dodgers’ dynamic duo of Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw.
Keuchel had an incredible season for the AL wild card-winning Astros, posting a 20-8 record, a 2.48 earned run average, 216 strikeouts, and an AL-high 232 innings pitched. Even more staggering were his numbers at Minute Maid Park this season. At home, Keuchel was undefeated, going 15-0 with a miniscule 1.46 ERA.
Arrieta had one of the most dominant stretches in recent memory in the second half of the season as the Cubs’ co-ace with lefty Jon Lester. He recorded a 22-6 record, a microscopic 1.77 ERA (second only to Greinke’s 1.66), with 236 strikeouts in 229 innings over the course of the whole season, while adding a 0.75 ERA in the second half (the lowest in major league history) and a no-hitter of the Dodgers on August 30.
MLB’s Awards Week wrapped up Nov. 19 with the presentation of the National and American League Most Valuable Player awards, presented to Harper and Donaldson, respectively. Harper’s monster year unanimously won the award over Goldschmidt and Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto, while Donaldson topped three-time runner-up and reigning AL MVP Mike Trout and World Series champion Lorenzo Cain of the Royals.
Harper led all of baseball with a 1.109 on-base plus slugging percentage, while totaling 42 homers, 118 runs scored, and 124 walks, the youngest player in history to reach those totals. He also became the third-youngest player in history to win the NL MVP award and the sixteenth former Rookie of the Year to win an MVP award.
Donaldson excelled in his first season north of the border, putting up career numbers such as a .297 batting average, 41 home runs, 123 RBIs, and a .939 OPS for the AL East champion Blue Jays.
Editor’s Note: To read part 2 of the recap, go here.
