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Last night, as news of the Rookie of the Year finalists crept through the feed of election news, Nationals fans may have noticed they had a horse in the race in Trea Turner.
Trea Turner hit .342 with 13 HR and 33 SB in 73 regular season games. So, yeah, he's an NL ROY finalist. pic.twitter.com/XvaUTWf5Go
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) November 7, 2016
Turner’s stolen base total would translate to around 70 stolen bases in a 162-game season, and his .342 average would suggest that the league didn’t really figure him out, which definitely makes him a viable candidate against the other finalists.
(Other finalists: Corey Seager (LAD), Kenta Maeda (LAD))
Alright then! Soon after, the Manager of the Year finalists were announced, and as it turned out, Dusty Baker was among the final three candidates.
In his 1st season as #Nats skipper -- and his 1st back in ⚾ -- Dusty Baker is up for NL Manager of the Year! pic.twitter.com/OW7kWqzhoj
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) November 7, 2016
Baker is up for the award in his first season as the Nationals’ manager — he won the award in 1993, 1997, and 2000 previously.
(Other finalists: Joe Maddon (CHC), Dave Roberts (LAD))
A little later, the NL Cy Young Award finalists were announced, and, well, would you look at that!
This is #MadMax. He led the NL in wins ... and Ks ... and IP, WHIP and SO/BB. Now he's a Cy Young Award finalist. pic.twitter.com/41XZWUerrk
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) November 7, 2016
Not mentioned in this tweet: A 20-strikeout game (it was pretty cool).
(Other finalists: Jon Lester (CHC), Kyle Hendricks (CHC))
Finally, the NL MVP finalists were announced.... But there’s no way there was another National, right?
When you slash .347/.390/.595 with 47 2B, 25 HR and 104 RBI, you get to be a finalist for the NL MVP. True story. pic.twitter.com/5a10xnu0GN
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) November 7, 2016
(Other finalists: Corey Seager (LAD), Kris Bryant (CHC))
Never mind! So, to recap: There’s a National that’s a finalist for Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, NL Cy Young and NL MVP. And that’s actually a pretty uncommon feat.
The @Nationals are the 1st team in a decade to have finalists in all 4 BBWAA categories. pic.twitter.com/UmXMcWz9gl
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 8, 2016
Oddly enough, it wasn’t the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs who did this (although Hendricks, Bryant, and Maddon are all favorites to win their respective awards).
Even though none of the Nats will likely win any of these awards, it’s still a cool accomplishment that speaks well to how impressive a season Scherzer, Murphy and Turner all enjoyed, as well as Dusty Baker’s managerial smarts — in addition to what a good ballclub Mike Rizzo and his front office have put together.