Bleacher Report's 2015 League Division Series Awards
OK, it's time to toss away the division series the way Jose Bautista tossed away his bat.
We're ready to move on to what should be two great championship series. But first—can I have that bat back for a sec?—let's revisit an extraordinary week of division series baseball.
There were 19 games, one shy of the maximum (only the Chicago Cubs wrapped up their series in four games). Most of the games were good, a handful were great...and then there was that Game 5 in Toronto.
There were stars, there was controversy and, unfortunately, there were a few big injuries. Jacob deGrom had 13 strikeouts in one game, six teams combined for 21 home runs in one day...and Bautista had that one awesome bat flip.
But quick, let's get started, because the American League Championship Series is about to begin at Kauffman Stadium Friday night.
On to the awards.
Best Continuing Storyline: Baseball's New Blood
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Playoff experience? Who needs playoff experience?
Not one of the four teams that made it out of the division series has won a World Series in the last two decades! Only one of the four has even been to the World Series in 14 years—and it's the team that spent 10 of those 14 years losing 90-plus games (Kansas City).
Even with the St. Louis Cardinals, who are in the playoffs every year, their division series star was Stephen Piscotty, who had never been there before.
We all know the Chicago Cubs have a roster full of players (and fans) who weren't alive the last time the team won a World Series, but did you realize the Toronto Blue Jays have a closer who wasn't alive the last time the Jays won it?
My wife often chooses which team to root for based on which one hasn't won recently, and if your favorite team is out, that's really not a bad way to do it. There was a special buzz at Wrigley Field, Citi Field and the Rogers Centre that just isn't possible in places where a playoff berth is taken for granted.
Thankfully, baseball gives us new teams and new stories. Never more so than this year.
Best Story Right Now: Cubs Win! Cubs Win!
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It's only the division series, right? And the Cubs had actually won one of those before this week. They've played in October a whole lot more recently than the Blue Jays or the Astros—more recently even than the Mets, who they'll meet in the National League Championship Series.
But even though all four remaining teams have championship droughts that date to the last century, only one of them has a drought that dates to the first decade of the last century.
The neutrals among us will get sick and tired of the Cubs soon enough, because with their young talent and huge resources, they should be contenders for a few years to come. For right now, though, they're the story of the year.
They played as well as any team in the divisional round. They may well be the best team standing, although it's tough to pick a real favorite among these four.
Best Free-Agent Boost: Colby Rasmus, Houston Astros
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It was actually a great week for free agents-to-be.
Yoenis Cespedes showed off his power, speed and ability to impact games. Daniel Murphy was the Mets' best hitter (and stole a run, too). Johnny Cueto looked like a No. 1 starter in Game 5 for the Royals. Yovani Gallardo slowed down the Blue Jays in his one start. Jason Heyward had a big series for the Cardinals. David Price wasn't great, but Toronto's Game 5 win earned him another couple of chances to impress. Zack Greinke was great, despite his Game 5 loss.
None of them made as much use of the big stage as Colby Rasmus, who for a week looked like the star some thought he had the chance to be.
Rasmus has been in the big leagues for seven years. A year ago, the Astros were able to sign him to a modest one-year, $8 million contract. Going into October, he wasn't listed high among potential free-agent outfielders, well behind Cespedes, Heyward, Justin Upton and Alex Gordon (who has a player option for 2016).
How much will teams pay attention to what Rasmus has done this month, with a home run in the Wild Card Game and three more in the division series? We'll see, but the Royals paid enough attention to Rasmus that they ended up walking him six times in five games (twice intentionally).
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Longest Winter: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
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Anyone can have a bad week, but a bad week in April, June or even August gives you time to recover. A bad week now, and you have all winter.
Elvis Andrus has all winter.
The Rangers shortstop hit .182 in the division series, which isn't great but doesn't stand out. But did you see Game 5?
Andrus was hitless, and he bunted into a force out. Then he made the last out of an inning at third base (above) when he was thrown out trying to steal. Then came the bottom of the seventh inning.
It began with Andrus kicking a Russell Martin ground ball. It continued with Andrus not coming up with Mitch Moreland's throw at second base (Moreland was charged with the error). It went on with Andrus dropping Adrian Beltre's throw while covering third base.
A run-scoring force out and a Jose Bautista home run later, and the Blue Jays were on their way to the ALCS.
Andrus? He was headed home for a long winter.
Best Moment: Jose Bautista's Home Run (and Bat Flip)
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Yes, the bat flip was legendary. But the home run was pretty good, too.
Even after all the other madness that was the seventh inning of Rangers-Blue Jays Game 5, it was tied 3-3 with two out when Bautista stepped to the plate against Sam Dyson. Bautista dramatically and emphatically untied it, with the biggest home run any Blue Jay has hit since Joe Carter's shot off Mitch Williams in 1993.
When Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal brought that up to Bautista in his on-field interview, Bautista rightly said that it couldn't really compare, because Carter won a World Series with his. The Blue Jays aren't there yet, but without the Bautista home run, they might already have been eliminated from a chance to get there.
If they do advance, Bautista's home run will live on forever in Canada. If they don't, it was still a heck of a moment—the best one baseball provided us this week.
Worst Moment: Chase Utley Breaks Ruben Tejada's Leg
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You can argue whether it was dirty or not (borderline). You can argue whether umpire Chris Guccione should have called it a double play or not (probably, given that MLB later ruled it an illegal slide). You can argue whether Chase Utley should have been suspended or not (probably not).
What you can't argue is that the worst moment of this postseason so far was when Ruben Tejada was lying on the ground at second base with a broken leg.
The Mets handled things right, expressing their anger but allowing their fans and their play to get their revenge. The Dodgers handled it right, publicly standing up for their teammate but keeping Utley on the bench in New York (for baseball reasons, they said) and not allowing the rest of the series to be about him.
Eventually, baseball will figure out how to protect infielders.
Whatever rule MLB changes, it didn't come soon enough for Tejada.
Craziest Moment: The Bat Tick, Rangers-Blue Jays Game 5
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Give the umpires credit for eventually getting the call right. Give Rougned Odor credit for alertly and aggressively racing home when he saw the ball loose in the infield, after Russell Martin's throw back to the mound inadvertently hit Shin-Soo Choo's bat. Give the Fox broadcaster Harold Reynolds credit for quickly recognizing what happened and saying the run had to count.
It did count, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning of Game 5. Without the Blue Jays' crazy comeback and Jose Bautista's home run in the bottom of the inning, it could have been the run that decided the series.
That would have been unfortunate. The reaction from the Rogers Centre fans, who threw garbage onto the field, was unfortunate.
But with the Blue Jays winning the game and the series, the Martin/Choo bat tick simply goes down as one of the craziest plays any of us has ever seen.
Best Comeback: Kansas City Royals, Game 4
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They had six outs to go in a season that means so much to them. They trailed the Astros by four runs. They'd gone three innings without a hit.
As Royals manager Ned Yost told Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star when it was over: "That kind of came out of nowhere, huh? Sometimes there's things that are meant to be."
Sometimes, it feels like there's no other good explanation.
The Royals trailed the series two games to one and trailed the game 6-2 entering the eighth inning. They began the eighth with five straight singles but still trailed 6-4 when a Kendrys Morales ground ball tipped off the glove of Astros shortstop Carlos Correa. Two runs scored, tying the game.
Luke Gregerson walked light-hitting Drew Butera, and Alex Gordon's groundout brought home the run that put the Royals in front.
The Blue Jays had a comeback too, both in the series (which they trailed two games to none) and in Game 5 (which they trailed 3-2 in the seventh).
But the comeback of the week belonged to the Royals.
Worst Tweet: Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas
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I'm not sure what's worse: prematurely tweeting congratulations or then deleting the tweet and trying to pretend it never happened.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas did both.
He congratulated the Astros "on making the ALCS" when they led 6-2 in Game 4. And he deleted the tweet when the Royals rallied for their 9-6 series-saving win.
Worse yet, Abbott seemed to blame the mistake on his staffers, later tweeting from his personal account that he had "No predictions. Just support."
In the original tweet, which came from his official account, Abbott said he was "hoping for an All-Texas #ALCS." Maybe he can order the Astros and Rangers to play, anyway.
Division Series Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
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He dominated Game 1. He found a way in Game 5.
He beat Clayton Kershaw. He beat Zack Greinke.
Jacob deGrom won't finish ahead of those two in Cy Young voting (and we're the only ones giving a division series award). He outdid them in this series, though, and ruined the Dodgers' strategy of trying to win with just two dependable starting pitchers.
The Mets have four of them, plus Bartolo Colon and Jon Niese. Matt Harvey gets the most attention, and Noah Syndergaard may have the most potential, but right now, deGrom is the best of the bunch.
He seems to like the big stage too. Remember his inning in the All-Star Game?
The Dodgers won't soon forget him. Now he's the Cubs' problem.
Division Series MVP: Daniel Murphy, New York Mets
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Baseball doesn't name MVPs for the division series (only for the championship series and World Series), but we'll name one for the whole round.
It's tempting to pick a Cub, and to be honest, this was going to belong to 22-year-old Kyle Schwarber—until Thursday night. There were other stars, including Colby Rasmus and Stephen Piscotty and Justin Turner and Kendrys Morales and even Jose Bautista, for one huge home run.
But Daniel Murphy hit huge home runs, two off Clayton Kershaw and the Game 5 game-winner off Zack Greinke.
His Game 1 homer put the Mets ahead in a game they won, 3-1. His Game 4 homer gave them a chance in a game they lost, 3-1.
Then came Thursday night. With the Mets down 2-1 in the fourth inning, Murphy went from first to second on a one-out walk—and then took third base when he realized no Dodger was covering it. He scored the tying run on a Travis d'Arnaud sacrifice fly and then put the Mets ahead with his sixth-inning home run.
Others had better division series stats. No one had a bigger impact than Murphy.
Most Impressive Team: Chicago Cubs
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They took out the 100-win St. Louis Cardinals and didn't even need the full five games to do it.
After losing a tough Game 1, the Cubs out-thought them and out-hustled them (two safety squeeze bunts in one inning!) for one win and then hit nine home runs in two home wins.
With Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, and with the best group of young position players in the game, the Cubs went from third place in the National League Central to chic pick to break the drought and win a World Series.
That's impressive.
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