Yesterday, Josh Hamilton ran into a wall chasing down a fly ball. Today, it was confirmed that he would be out indefinitely. So what does that mean for the other MVP hopefuls like Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, and possibly even CC Sabathia?
Hamilton was the clear MVP favorite, hitting .361 with 31 home runs and 97 RBI. Still only in early September, it wasn’t to hard to imagine a 40 homer and 110 RBI season for Hamilton. It’s been a tough week physically for Josh. Earlier this week, he was out when he felt pain in his right knee and had a shot of Synvisc, a lubricant designed to relieve inflammation, after Tuesday’s game.
Of the hit against the wall, Hamilton said it felt “like I have been in a car wreck.” He would know because he experienced one back in 2001. As I said before, Hamilton was likely to win the MVP, but now that he’s out with bruised ribs, what happens to the MVP race?
If the Tigers and Yankees had either the same or similar records, most people would say that Miguel Cabrera would win the award. However, Detroit is third in an already weak division, the AL Central. This undoubtedly has shied voters away from him. Also, only one time since the player strike in 1994 has a player been voted MVP on a team under .500 (A-Rod is 2003 with the Rangers).
The next probable option for MVP is Robinson Cano. He has hit .329/.412/.624 in the cleanup spot, which he has had to because Alex Rodriguez just yesterday was on the 15-day disabled list. Cano also ranks fourth in the AL in intentional walks (12), which shows just how much of a feared hitter Robinson has become.
And then there’s CC Sabathia. CC is 19-5 on the season with a 3.02 ERA and has already thrown over 200 innings, the fourth time he will have in his young career. Sabathia has very impressive stats, but some say that he doesn’t even deserve the Cy Young, so how can he win the MVP?
Others say that the MVP should be for position players only, not pitchers. Voters that are old-time fixated are probably going to disregard CC as they look at the possible winners,which, again, is a strike against him.
Needless to say, Hamilton’s injury has certainly shaken up the MVP race, and it will be a surprise I personally look forward to as the season end dawns.
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