2014 Burning River Awards

With the expectation that somehow the players on the Cleveland Indians will be excluded from every single major national award, we have our own rewards to give exclusively to members of the Cleveland Indians franchise. Brought to you by BurningRiverBaseball.com, here are the 2014 Burning River Awards!

“The Lee Award” for Most Improved Player – Carlos Carrasco

This year, the Indians had another two great candidates for this award (it was up to Scott Kazmir and Ryan Raburn last season), but the most improved, both overall and during the season, has to have been Carlos Carrasco. The runner up, Lonnie Chisenhall put together a pretty impressive season, jumping from a line of .225/.270/.398 in 2013 to .280/.343/.427 this year. In addition, he hit 43 extra base hits, knocked in 59 and scored 61 runs, all career highs among many others. Unfortunately for his chances of winning this award, he had stiff competition.

Carrasco started the season in the rotation on a trial basis, much like Chisenhall did at third base, but unlike Chisenhall, he failed. After four games, and an ERA near seven, Carrasco became the most improved player during the season as he lowered that ERA down to 2.55 through 26 relief appearances and ten more starts. After rejoining the rotation at the end of the year, he posted a 1.30 ERA with a .179 average against, allowing one or less earned runs in eight of ten starts.

After 238.1 career innings and a 5.29 ERA and never having a K/9 of greater than 7.5, he had a 2.55 ERA in 134 innings this year with 140 strike outs. This lowered his career ERA by almost a full run (4.30). In 2013 (he missed all of 2012 with Tommy John surgery) he posted a 6.75 ERA with just 30 strike outs in 46.2 innings. This was good for a -0.9 WAR, something he improved to a positive 3.6 in 2014 (Chisenhall went from a 1.2 in 2013 to 3.0 in 2014).

2013 Winner – Scott Kazmir
2012 Winner – Shin-Soo Choo
2011 Winner – Justin Masterson

“The Super Joe” Rookie of the Year Award – T.J. House

This was another tough choice as the Indians used 10 different rookies at one point or another this year. These can be placed in tiers like the rarely used (like Jesus Aguilar and Austin Adams), part timers (like Kyle Crockett and Tyler Holt) and the true starters, like Jose Ramirez and T.J. House. Neither of these two players were expected to start this year with House having no expectations beyond AAA and Ramirez expected to be a utility man at best. The runner up, Ramirez, ended up being the starting short stop for the final two months of the season after the trade of Asdrubal Cabrera and brought something to that position that hadn’t been seen in a long time in Cleveland, defense.

Tiger Junior was a true rookie this year (unlike Trevor Bauer, who maintained eligibility despite making his debut in 2012) and quickly became one of the Indians most dependable starters. He was used sparingly during the first half as an injury replacement, but once Zach McAllister was injured and Justin Masterson was traded, he became a full time member. In his 18 starts (plus one relief appearance), House threw 102 innings, allowing an ERA of 3.35 with 80 strike outs and just 22 walks. With this great first season, House has changed the team’s expectations from possible long reliever to a near guarantee of being in the rotation in 2015.

2013 Winner – Cody Allen
2012 Winner – Zach McAllister
2011 Winner – Vinnie Pestano

“The Steve Olin Memorial Award” for Best Reliever – Cody Allen

This was an obvious choice, going to Cody Allen for the second season in a row. Like last year, he started out as the Indians primary set-up man this year, but this year he was able to advance into the closer’s role early on. Because John Axford got the first 13 save opportunities of the season, he was unable to compare with the top closers in the league, but despite just saving 24 games, his 2.07 ERA was better than all but seven pitchers in the AL with at least 15 saves. On the Indians, no reliever was within 0.50 runs of Allen’s ERA and no pitcher came close to his 11.76 K/9 rate. In fact, it was the best single season K/9 in Indians history among pitchers with at least 63 innings pitched.

2013 Winner – Cody Allen
2012 Winner – Vinnie Pestano
2011 Winner – Joe Smith

“The Big O” for Most Outstanding Defender – Jose Ramirez

Pick whichever metric you prefer and the Indians had the worst defense in all of baseball this year. While there were still some great plays by each player, only a couple players were consistently great with every chance they got. Both players were rookies, Tyler Holt and Jose Ramirez. Thanks mostly to the extra playing time, Ramirez was the top Indians defender. Taking over for Asdrubal Cabrera at short stop, Ramirez provided a stark contrast and provided a glimmer of hope for the future of the Indians defense.

2013 Winner – Michael Brantley
2012 Winner – Michael Brantley
2011 Winner – Jack Hannahan

“The Golden Belle” for Most Outstanding Hitter – Michael Brantley

Brantley carried the Indians offense on his back all season with an incredible stat line of 200 hits, 45 doubles, 20 home runs, 97 RBI, 94 runs and 23 steals with a .327 average. Most impressive of these numbers is the combination of power and speed. The 97 RBI are the most since 2007 when Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez each knocked in at least 100, the 94 runs are the most since 2008 (Grady Sizemore), 45 doubles the most since 2006 (Grady Sizemore), 200 hits the most since 1996 (Kenny Lofton) and his .327 average was the highest by an Indian since Roberto Alomar in 2001 (.336). With all this historical context, there was also no competition from the current team. While many of these numbers used to be the qualifiers for a good season (like 200 hits, 100 RBI, 100 runs and 20 SB), they have become very rare of late. In the AL this year, Brantley came in second in hits, sixth in runs, 12th in RBI, third in doubles and average and 11th in steals. No other player in the league was this near the top in every single stat, a solid reason for Brantley’s AL MVP candidacy.

2013 Winner – Jason Kipnis
2012 Winner – Shin-Soo Choo
2011 Winner – Asdrubal Cabrera

“The Addie” for Best Overall Pitcher – Corey Kluber

This was an easy choice and not just because Kluber was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Of the eight starting pitchers used by the Indians this year, no other qualified for the ERA title and while the MIP Carrasco could possibly have grabbed this award, he was only second best this year. Also, while the top reliever, Allen, was also impressive, he threw less than 81 innings compared to Kluber’s 235.2.

2013 Winner – Justin Masterson
2012 Winner – Vinnie Pestano
2011 Winner – Justin Masterson

“The Rose Award” for Best Overall Player – Corey Kluber

The Indians had two players worthy of the MVP this year, something that hasn’t happened since the first year of the Burning River Awards back in 2011. This year, it was the top pitcher, Kluber and the top batter, Brantley. The ultimate decider in this debate was history. While Brantley has had an amazing season, more than 20 hitters have reached the 200 hit milestone, the last of which was in 1996 and others have even had a similar combination of power and speed, such as Roberto Alomar in the early 2000’s.

Kluber’s successes hark back to an earlier age. Only in five seasons in Indians history have pitchers struck out more batters than Kluber (269) and none came near his 51 walks allowed or did so in as few as 269 innings pitched. In addition, both pitchers who struck out more batters than Kluber pitched prior to the 1970’s, in a more pitcher friendly age. Kluber also won 18 games, the most since Cliff Lee won the Cy Young in 2008 and kept a 2.44 ERA, the third best in the American League.

2013 Winner – Jason Kipnis
2012 Winner – Jason Kipnis
2011 Winner – Asdrubal Cabrera