Danile Murphy
This is not meant to be critical of players or their patriotism. It isn’t. Players, especially pitchers, have a certain shelf life, and no one should tell them to risk everything for a one month international competition. Perhaps Noah Syndergaard put it best when he said, “I’m a Met. Ain’t nobody made it to the Hall of Fame or the World Series playing in the WBC.” (Abby Mastrocco, nj.com).
If you go down the line, you will probably hear similar responses from the other players that did not play. The problem is most of them are American.
The reigning Cy Young Award winners are Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello. Neither are pitching, but to be fair Scherzer was slated to pitch before he suffered an injury. The runner-ups were Jon Lester in the NL and Justin Verlander in the AL. They aren’t pitching either. Third place? Kyle Hendricks and Corey Kluber respectively. The two pitchers who started Game 7 of the 2016 World Series aren’t on the USA roster. Dig deeper. The best pitcher in baseball right now is Clayton Kershaw. He’s not on the roster. The best clutch pitcher in all of baseball right now, if not all time, is Madison Bumgarner. He’s not on the roster.
This speaks to the absolute depth of the starting pitching among Team USA. Arguably, the crop of starting pitchers on the USA roster right now is their 7th best option. Maybe even worse. And yet, they pitched brilliantly. Chris Archer, Marcus Stroman, and Danny Duffy went out there and pitched as good as or better than any of the aforementioned pitchers would have pitched in that spot.
But then comes the bullpen. As loaded as the USA is in the rotation, they should be just as loaded in the bullpen. Zach Britton is coming off a historically great season, but much like the AL Wild Card Game, you are not going to see him pitching against a foreign opponent. Addison Reed, a pitcher coming off a season with a 1.97 ERA isn’t on the roster. It could be argued Wade Davis is the best closer in all of baseball, and yet, he isn’t on the roster. The closest USA comes to having a terrific closer on the roster is Mark Melancon, who is on the provisional roster.
I kept thinking about all the aforementioned pitchers while Tanner Roark, a pitcher who wouldn’t make a squad of the best American born pitcher in the National League East, was getting tattooed by the Dominican Republic. Oddly enough, it was the one pitcher for USA you trusted the most, Andrew Miller, the one who definitively belonged on the roster, was the one that ultimately blew the save.
Sure, you could have hoped USA scored more runs after jumping out to a 5-0 lead. You could argue that the best young players in the game Mike Trout and Bryce Harper went to Spring Training instead of competing in this event. You also wonder how much of an impact USA not bringing their best players had an impact on American born Manny Machado playing for the Dominican Republic. You wondered a little more as he hit a Tanner Roark ball nearly out of the gigantic Marlins Park.
Personally, I was wondering what the heck Jim Leyland was doing with his lineup. Two of the better hitters on the team, Andrew McCutchen and Daniel Murphy, were stapled to the bench while Eric Hosmer was batting fifth. Mind you, Hosmer could very well be the worst hitter in that lineup. He’s certainly the bottom two or three on the roster. These are the things that happen when you name Leyland manager instead of giving the chance to Willie Randolph, a man who has had success at the major league level and in international play.
Seriously, aside from Buster Posey and perhaps Nolan Arenado and Ian Kinsler, you could argue the best USA players and coaching staff stayed home. This is why USA has not won a WBC to date, let alone appear in a final. And yet, in some strange way, it speaks about how much better USA is than the world in baseball.
In Olympic basketball, USA brings its best players in LeBron James and Kevin Durant, and yet, the team has to sweat it out to win Olympic Gold. In hockey, Canada is absolutely stocked top to bottom. Arguably, the team it leaves home would win Olympic Gold, and yet each Olympics teams constantly push Canada. In the WBC, USA isn’t sending near its best, and they are having to play tougher games than expected.
Teams like Colombia try to keep their hopes alive with a gutsy performance from Nabil Crismatt. Puerto Rico’s ace is Seth Lugo, a pitcher who can’t even find his way onto an All-American Mets starting rotation. Israel has transformed Josh Zeid, a pitcher the Mets would not re-sign to a minor league deal, into their version of Andrew Miller.
USA may not have their best, but they have players like Adam Jones who well up with pride putting on the uniform and representing their county. This is a roster full of players that are easy to root for and are good enough to win the WBC. As an American and as a baseball fan, I’m happy these players chose to play, and they deserve to win it all because even though they might not be the best American players, they are the best team in the WBC.
- Batting Average .347 – second
- OBP .390 – seventh
- Slugging .595 – first
- OPS .985 – first
- Doubles 47 – first
- Homers 25 – 24th
- RBI 104 – fourth
- Offensive WAR 5.7 – third
- OPS+ 157 – third
- wRC+ 156 – second
The fact that Murphy did this as a second baseman is astounding. You would have to go back all the way to 1975 – 1976 with Joe Morgan to find a second baseman that was the top hitter in the National League. When you are put in the same category as Joe Morgan, you know that Murphy had a special year.
Murphy was also a huge difference in why the Nationals won the National League East this season. Last year’s MVP, Bryce Harper, had a down year by his standards. For example, Harper from a massive 198 OPS+ to a slighly above-average 116 OPS+. When your team’s best player takes a huge step backwards, someone needs to step up, and they need to step up in a big way. Murphy absolutely did that. In fact, Murphy was to the Nationals what Harper was in 2015. Murphy led his team in batting average, OBP, slugging, OPS, OPS+, doubles, homers, and RBI.
Murphy also annihilated his former team, who also happened to be the only real challenge to the Nationals in the division. Murphy had a 19 game hitting streak against the Mets hitting .413/.444/.773 with six doubles, seven homers, and 21 RBI. He was a huge reason why the Nationals were 12-7 against a Mets team they put in their rear-view mirror. Quite possibly, without Murphy, the Nationals do not win the division. Largely because of that, Murphy is my choice for the National League MVP.
Second – Kris Bryant
While Murphy was the MVP, Bryant was probably the best player in the National League as evidenced by him being the league leader in WAR (7.7). Bryant also led the league in runs scored, and his 37 homers were good for third in the National League.
It is also notable with Kyle Schwarber suffering a season ending injury on the second game of the season, Bryant bought in and played anywhere and everywhere Joe Maddon asked him to play. Bryant was not only a good defensive third baseman, but he also proved to be a good left fielder. Overall, he was everything you want in a player.
In reality, he lost out on the MVP as he really wasn’t the most valuable. While the Nationals had a down year from Harper and another injury plagued season from Stephen Strasburg, the Cubs had a loaded lineup and a loaded rotation. It is why they ran away with the National League Central. In reality, even without Bryant, the Cubs run away with the Central. While we can argue whether or not it matters, the fact is that the voting rules (if you are following the BBWAA standard) state they do. With that Bryant finishes second. It’s an extremely close second, but second nevertheless.
Third – Corey Seager
Seager was not only the Rookie of the Year, he was an outstanding player in the National League. He played an outstanding shortstop, and he hit .308/.365/.512 with 40 doubles, 26 homers, and 72 RBI. His 6.1 WAR was the second best from any player that played in the postseason this year. Overall, Seager was a constant on a Dodgers club that faced a lot of adversity and won the National League West.
Fourth – Nolan Arenado
At some point you have to throw standings aside and just admire greatness. Arenado once against proved what a great player he is. Not only is the best defensive third baseman in baseball, he also led the National League in homers (40) and RBI (133). This man is a superstar. The only reason why he is not treated as such is his market and his team consistently failing to compete for a postseason spot.
Fifth – Anthony Rizzo
Rizzo was the second best first baseman in the National League, the second best player in his division, and he was the second best player on his team. Rizzo just had a monster year that saw him hit .292/.385/.544 with 43 doubles, 32 homers, and 108 RBI. Like Bryant, you could remove him from the team, and they still win the Central. Like Bryant, he was a big reason why this team was the most dominant team in baseball.
Sixth – Yoenis Cespedes
Cespedes proved his hot streak with the Mets last year was no fluke as he hit .280/.354/.530 with 25 doubles, 35 homers, and 108 RBI. In games he played, the Mets were 74-58. In games he didn’t play, the Mets were 13-17. His numbers and the Mets record would have been a lot better had he not been hobbled for a quad injury for a good part of the season.
Seventh – Freddie Freeman
Without Freeman having a monster year, the Braves would’ve actually challenged the 1962 Mets for the worst single season record in baseball history. Freeman hit .302/.400/.569 with 43 doubles, 34 homers, and 91 RBI. He very well could have been the best first baseman in all of baseball. By WAR, he was the second best player in the National League all season. Unfortunately, his great season gets lost in what was another poor year for the Braves.
Eighth – Joey Votto
Like Freeman, Votto had a great season lost amid what was a terrible season for his team. Votto hit .326/.434/.550 with 34 doubles, 29 homers, and 97 RBI. In the second half, his OBP was an unbelievable .490. It was a large reason why he led the league in both OBP and OPS+.
Ninth – Christian Yelich
Believe it or not, Yelich was the best outfielder in the National League in 2016 (as per WAR). This season, Yelich took the next step everyone was waiting for him to take in his path to becoming a star. In 155 games, Yelich hit .298/.376/.483 with 38 doubles, 21 homers, and 98 RBI. He did this while playing a solid left field, which for him is a disappointment.
Tenth – Asdrubal Cabrera
Cabrera dealt with a knee issue that was part of the reason why he struggled in the field and at the plate for the early part of the year. Finally, the injury got to the point where he was forced to the disabled list. Right before he came off the disabled list, the Mets were 60-61 leaving them 4.5 games behind the second Wild Card. Worse yet, the Mets were behind three teams for that spot.
From August 19th on, Cabrera was the best hitter in baseball hitting .345/.406/.635 with 11 doubles, one triple, 10 homers, and 29 RBI. Behind his hot hitting, the Mets finished the season on a 27-14 tear soaring to the top spot in the Wild Card race. If not for his hot bat, the Mets may very well have found themselves on the outside looking in come this postseason.