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2017 will be remembered as the year of the non-steroid enhanced home run. A record number of homers were hit in MLB this season and the most in the DTBL since 2000. 29 DTBL players hit at least 30 round-trippers and 70 players hit at least 20. Despite this proliferation of homers, one player managed to separate himself from the pack. Jackalope outfielder Giancarlo Stanton slugged 59 homers, 10 more than any other player. That is the largest gap between the top two home run hitters in DTBL history (tying Albert Belle in 1995). In a crowded field of strong candidates, Stanton has come out on top as the 2017 DTBL Most Valuable Player.
Yesterday, I adjusted the 2017 PAR numbers to be based on a five year set of stats including the recently completed season. In doing so, most hitters saw their PAR take a slight drop, particularly power hitters. Stanton was no exception. His PAR dropped from 12.1 to 11.7, which cost him the top spot on the PAR leaderboard since 2009. Mookie Betts’ 2016 total of 11.72 edged Stanton by one tenth of a point. Stanton did lead the league in that category in 2017 though, in addition to soaring past the field in home runs and also leading the way in RBI (132). His 123 runs trailed only Charlie Blackmon. Even his .281 batting average was quite impressive for such a prodigious slugger. While Stanton has been a force ever since he made it to the majors, this was easily his best season yet.
The Jackalope drafted Stanton with the sixth overall pick of the 2011 draft. He has been their most consistent power hitter ever since. In his seven DTBL seasons, he has hit at least 20 home runs in each one. Only injuries have been able to slow him down on occasion. 2017 was clearly his best season to date, but 2014 was pretty darn good as well when he finished second in the MVP race. This year marked his fourth All-Star appearance. He was a major contributor to both of the Jackalope’s championships (2011 and 2015). This was a disappointing season for the Jackalope, but that was mostly because of the pitching staff. Stanton helped them easily lead the league in home runs with 364, the highest team total since 2003. Stanton and Jackalope teammate Paul Goldschmidt formed the most fearsome duo in the league this season.
Stanton clearly had a MVP caliber season, but he was not alone. He received half of the first place votes and appeared on all ten ballots, but in scattered positions. In total, he accumulated 77 points, winning this award by 19 over Cougars outfielder Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon was no doubt a benefactor of the Coors effect, but his numbers across the board were legitimately spectacular, leading the league in runs (137) while hitting .331 with 37 homers, 104 RBI and 14 stolen bases. He received a pair of first place votes and was the only player besides Stanton to make it on every ballot. Finishing third was the DTBL Rookie of the Year, Mavericks outfielder Aaron Judge. Stanton was the only DTBL player to hit more home runs than Judge this year. Judge received one first place vote and 46 total points. Interestingly enough, that allowed him to edge out American League MVP Jose Altuve by a single point. With a AL MVP and World Series championship under his belt, Altuve is now receiving proper recognition as one of the best players in the sport. This is the third time in four years that he has finished in the top four of the MVP race. He won the league batting title, hitting .346 with 24 home runs and 32 stolen bases. The Demigods second baseman received a pair of first place votes, but was edged out by Judge because he received just one second place tally. The top four finishers all received first place votes and made strong arguments to win this award. But so did the guy who finished fifth, Jackalope first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt accumulated 18 points. It is definitely worth checking out the voting results. There was a clear lack of consensus on where each player should finish.
Click here to view the full voting results.
As mentioned above, yesterday, I completed the end-of-season PAR adjustments for the 2017 figures. I’m also in the process of adding PAR numbers for the 2008 season, which means we will have ten full seasons worth of data for that stat very soon. I have a lot planned for this winter, including a revamp of the transaction processing portions of the web site. So if you have any suggestions on improvements, please let me know.
Happy Thanksgiving!