Lost amid the huge news of a trade and a couple of signings yesterday, the Toronto chapter of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) tallied their voting and announced their end-of-season awards yesterday.
Jose Bautista took home the Player of the Year Award, receiving all 13 first-place votes with Edwin Encarnacion coming in second (as reported by Gregor Chisholm on MLB.com). Bautista led the club with a .928 OPS, 35 home runs and 103 RBI and managed to stay healthy this season, playing 155 games, also tops on the club.
The Pitcher of the Year, by a narrow margin, was Mark Buehrle who had 27 points while R.A. Dickey finished second with 25 points. Buerhle led the starting staff with a 3.39 ERA and crossed the 200-inning barrier for the 14th consecutive time.
The unanimous Rookie of the Year was Marcus Stroman who compiled a 3.65 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 130 2/3 innings while striking out 111 batters and walking 28. In second was Aaron Sanchez who still has his rookie eligibility after pitching only 33 innings with a 1.09 ERA.
The recipient of the John Cerutti Award for Best Reliever was Casey Janssen, the team’s closer, who logged 25 saves but posted one of his highest ERAs in recent years at 3.94.
The final award was the Most Improved Player award which went to Melky Cabrera who bounced back from his 2013 season in which a tumour was discovered in his back. Cabrera went on to hit .301/.351/.458 with 35 doubles and 16 home runs in 139 games. Recently traded J.A. Happ came in second place in the voting.
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