NewsMcCann, Hanson eyeing hardware
Braves awaiting annoucement of offseason awards
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
11/11/09 3:30 PM EST
ATLANTA -- When the National League's Rookie of the Year is announced next week, Braves fans will either be celebrating Tommy Hanson's honor or criticizing those voters who instead opted to vote for either Phillies left-hander J.A. Happ or Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan.While Hanson at least has a chance to capture this honor, Javier Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens can only hope that the success they enjoyed this past summer was appreciated enough to earn them top five finishes in the NL Cy Young Award balloting, which will also be revealed next week.
The awards season began on Tuesday with the announcement of the American League Gold Glove winners, and fans will have the opportunity to spend the next two weeks debating the winners, while also keeping a pulse on the Hot Stove season.
Heading into these announcements, it appears that Brian McCann is the only Braves player best positioned to capture an award. When the Silver Slugger Awards are announced on Thursday, the 25-year-old All-Star will likely be recognized as the NL's top offensive catcher for the third time in the past four seasons.
Only six catchers have ever won more than three Silver Slugger Awards -- Mike Piazza (10), Pudge Rodriguez (7), Lance Parrish (6), Jorge Posada (5), Gary Carter (5) and Benito Santiago (4).
McCann led all NL catchers with 21 homers, 94 RBIs and an .834 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). He ranked with a .281 batting average.
When the Rookie of the Year Award is announced on Monday, there will be at least some reason to wonder if the voters opted to go with Hanson, who went 11-4 with a 2.89 in the 21 starts he made after making his much-anticipated Major League debut on June 7.
Hanson's 2.89 ERA led all NL rookies who completed at least 100 innings. Still there seems to have been some favor given to Happ, who began this season in the bullpen and then proved to be one of the most consistent starters for the Phillies.
While Happ tied Chicago's Randy Wells with an NL Rookie-high 12 wins, he was 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA as a starter. In addition, it took the Phillies left-hander 38 1/3 more innings to compile three more strikeouts than Hanson, who led NL rookies with a 1.18 WHIP and .225 batting average allowed.
Last year, Jurrjens finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting. This year, the 23-year-old right-hander could certainly finish among the top three in Cy Young balloting.
When this year's NL Cy Young Award is announced on Nov. 17, former Braves top prospect Adam Wainwright could gain this honor for the first time in his career. But for the first time since Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2000, two Atlanta pitchers could finish among the top five finishers for this award.
Jurrjens ranked third in the NL with a 2.60 ERA and allowed two earned runs or less in 26 of his 34 starts. His 14 wins could have been improved had he not battled the run support issues that also plagued Vazquez, who ranked second in the NL with 238 strikeouts and third with a 1.03 WHIP.
While going 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA during his first season with the Braves, Vazquez tossed three complete games and made his win total look more appropriate by proving victorious in five of his last six decisions.
The NL Gold Glove Awards were announced on Wednesday, and the Braves came up empty in this category. Adam LaRoche, who led all NL first basemen with a .999 fielding percentage, certainly established himself as a candidate, but the Padres' Adrian Gonzalez won the honor.
In addition, while committing just two errors in his last 75 games, Yunel Escobar proved why many of the Braves feel he is the game's top defensive shortstop. But his early-season mental mistakes and 13 total errors likely hurt him when it came time for opposing managers to cast their ballots for this award, as the Phillies' Jimmy Rollins picked up the hardware.
Mark Bowmanis a reporter for MLB.com This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
