The Case for JV

A lot of people lately are starting to (rightfully so) jump on the "Justin Verlander for MVP" bandwagon. I mean, come on, JV leads the world in Wins, ERA, WHIP, K's, IP, Pitches Thrown, WAR (for Pitchers), etc.

Surely, wins are a soft statistic, much like RBI for hitters, but we'll talk about that another day. But when you look at the important peripheral numbers, most importantly ERA, WHIP, and WAR, the numbers tend to speak for themselves.

JV's ERA (earned run average) is 2.36. That means he gives up under 2 1/2 runs PER 9 INNINGS!

His WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched) is .90. That means JV is giving up less than 1 baserunner per inning. That is OBSCENeLY low.

My favorite statistic is that of WAR (wins above replacement), which measures how many wins a particular player has directly contributed to his team versus what a major league average player would have done. To further illustrate this, the baseline figure of this is zero. An average major leaguer has a 0 WAR, meaning he has directly contributed to zero wins and zero losses. Justin Verlander's WAR is 8.5. That means Justin Verlander is directly respsonsible for nearly 9 Tiger wins. Without him, the Tigers would be at best a .500 club.

Some of the supposed baseball elite in the media will not vote for Verlander, simply because he is a pitcher. They are of the opinion that since a starting pitcher only pitches 1/5 of a teams games, he doesn't deserve the award, that it should go to an everyday player like a Curtis Granderson or Jacoby Elsbury.

Well, lets think about this logically. Your everyday major league player, on average, gets about 550-600 at-bats in a season. That's barring injury, extended rest days, etc.

Justin Verlander has faced 938 batters so far this year. That number has the potential to grow to around 960-ish for the season. So in essence, JV has been directly responsible for the outcome of more at bats than any position player in the major leagues.

More of the media wants you to believe that since the pitchers have the Cy Young award, given annually to the league's best pitcher, the MVP award should go to a positional player.

Quite frankly, this is horseshit (channeling my inner Leyland). The Cy Young is for the best pitcher. The Silver Slugger is for the best hitter. The Gold Glove is for the best fielder. The MVP is for hands down, the most VALUABLE player, regardless of position. Don't let the media fool you, in particular, the Yankee/Red Sox homers over at the mothership (ESPN).

As I emphasized above, the MVP should go to the most VALUABLE player. Not the player who's on the best team. Not the best hitter. Not the best fielder. The most valuable PLAYER.

Value is determined in any number of ways. I choose to look at WAR as the best indicator. As we have established, Justin Verlander has the best WAR.

This is my argument people. Justin Verlander should win the AL Cy Young, as well as the AL MVP. He is the BEST Pitcher, as well as the Most VALUABLE Player.

Peace, Love, and Tigers Baseball