Sports: A Game Of Inches: David Eckstein Grindiness Of The Year Award

Can someone please explain to me why Steven Strasburg received no NL ROY votes? I presume it is because he "only" tossed 68 innings this season. However, that Neftali Feliz guy who won the AL ROY award only tossed 69 innings. What, is 69 the magic number all of the sudden here (hehe, I said 69)? I find this outcome quite perplexing.

According to Fangraphs' WAR system, Strasburg was worth +2.6 WAR in his limited pitching role for the Nationals this year. That extrapolates to approximately an +8.0 WAR full season. Now I realize that awards on not based on extrapolated values, but the logic of ROY voting befuddles me here on two accounts. First, Strasburg gets 0 votes, while Netali Feliz, in a mere +1.7 WAR showing, takes the AL ROY cake. Second, following the theme of voters should ignore extrapolated values, how in the hell did Buster Posey (+3.9 WAR) beat out Jason Heyward (+5.0 WAR) for the NL ROY award? And don't tell me it was because Posey was a catcher, because WAR factors in relative positions. Heyward got a -6.2 run positional adjustment off his bottom line, while Posey got a +3.5 run bump. With this extra WAR considered, Heyward was still more than a full win more valuable. In the absolute context of 5.0 versus 3.9, the 1.1 WAR differential may not seem like much. However, in terms of relative value, Heyward was 22% more valuable this season. So no matter how you argue it -- that we are not looking at extrapolated value or that we ARE looking at extrapolated value -- the voters got the NL ROY award wrong. Plain and simple, no argument to be made to the contrary.

Don't like WAR?
Heyward was also better than Posey in WPA, was more clutch (per Fangraph's leverage-indexed "Clutch" rating). Heyward's 91 walks this season is also top ten all time for a single-season for a player under age 21 (in good company with guys like A-Rod). Heyward also has better minor league numbers, better MLE numbers, better major league numbers, was a comparable defender (if we ignore position), produced more batting runs...Really, Posey only beat Heyward in K%...the power output for the two players was comparable this season and Heyward's numbers to date (and pedigree) indicate that he has the clear power upside.

Also, I think that AL ROY voters are too obsessed with relief pitching.

Ugh. I have a headache.

Every season, starting this year, I am going to award the "David Eckstein Grindiness Of The Year Award" to the baseball player with the season's best Grindiness Per Nine Inning (G/9) ranking. The DEGOTY Award, as it is ostensibly known, is meant to award the players who best encapsulate "trying," "heart," "passion," "the intangibles," and "not clogging up the bases."

The first nominee of the year unequivocally goes to Miguel Olivo, who passed a kidney stone in the 8th inning of yesterday's Rockies-Diamondbacks game...and then came out to play in the 9th inning. Quote:

Rather than sit out as most mere mortals would, Olivo exited the bathroom, grabbed his catching gear and finished the game.

Olivo insisted that despite evidence to the contrary, he's not superhuman.

"Believe me, it’s not fun," Olivo told the Post. "Sometimes, when I’ve got that thing, I just want to die. But I can handle pain a little bit. Once it's gone, I'm normal, I'm good. Let's play baseball."

Olivo is hitting .314 with five homers already this year, which is all well and good, but he's bringing a new meaning to "doing the things that don't show up on the stat sheet."

Olivo's humbleness and intangibility gives him a slight edge over my second nominee for the 2010 DEGOTY Award, Brian Kownacki. Kownacki will forever go down as baseball's most acrobatic player for jumping over a catcher in a tied ballgame to score the winning run. Video of the amazing play below. Who else will make the nominee list? Time will only tell. There are still five more beautiful months of baseball remaining.