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| photo courtesy of mlbplayers.com |
Michael will now receive a $20,000 grant from
the MLB Players Trust to direct to a charity of his choice. as for the other finalists, David Price of the Boston Red Sox came in 2nd place and gets a $10,000 grant, while Edwin Jackson of the Oakland Athletics finished 3rd and gets a grant worth $5,000.💰
PCA's Comeback Player of the Year Award recognizes those who have overcome adversity and returned to the diamond in excellent form. players voted within their league for this award in the middle of September, orchestrated by the accounting firm KPMG.
the Players Choice Awards began in 1992 and the Comeback Player award was the first one to be handed out, with Dennis Eckersley and Barry Bonds being the inaugural winners.
"it's a true honor to be nominated for the Comeback Player of the Year Award," Michael said in a video snippet from the MLB Players Association's twitter account. "it's even more special and gratifying to know that my teammates and peers are the ones that voted for me. this journey wouldn't be possible without people helping me along the way. i'd like to say thank you to my teammates, peers, medical doctors, and my family for the support system they gave me. thank you so much. it will always be appreciated and never forgotten."
now let's check out the numbers of the three finalists for 2018 one last time:
🥇Michael Brantley: he played in 143 games after coming back from offseason right ankle surgery for a deltoid ligament sprain and ankle synovitis that he suffered the year before. offensively, he totaled 176 hits, 55 extra base hits, 121 singles, 36 doubles, 2 triples, 17 home runs (2 grand slams), 76 RBI, 6 sac flies, 89 runs, 48 walks, 5 hit by pitches, 12 stolen bases (11 - 2nd, 1 - 3rd), 3 caught stealing (2 - 2nd, 1 - 3rd), 7 reached on fielder's choice, 2 reached on forceout, 4 reached on fielding error, 1 reached on throwing error, 1 reached on catcher interference, 1 reached on passed ball, 1 sac bunt, 15 GIDP, 60 strikeouts (46 swinging, 14 looking), 40 first at bat hits, 267 total bases, 204 left on base, 631 plate appearances, 570 at bats, .309 batting average, .364 OBP, .468 SLG, and .832 OPS. defensively, he totaled 1136.1 innings in left field in parts of 134 games, 221 putouts, 6 assists, 1 error, 2 double plays, and a .996 fielding percentage.
and since i wrote about him all year, i can also tell you that Michael had the highest batting average on the Indians out of all the qualifying players, and the 5th highest average in the American League. his 3.5 fWAR ranked 2nd among 10 qualifying AL left fielders as well. he also hit his first career grand slam this year, had a 19-game hitting streak, was named to the All Star team for the third time in his career, and hit two walk-off singles one in August and one in September.
🥈David Price: this year's MLB and Sporting News Comeback winner (more info below) returned from an elbow injury last year. the left-hander pitched in 30 games and totaled a 3.58 ERA, 16-7 record, 176.0 innings, 151 hits, 25 home runs, 75 runs, 50 walks, and 177 strikeouts. he was a big part in the Red Sox winning 108 regular season games. not only that, he also finally earned three wins in the postseason, including Game 5 of the World Series, which made the BoSox the Champions.
🥉Edwin Jackson: he was released by the Washington Nationals on June 1 and then signed with the Athletics on June 6. in his revival campaign, the right-hander pitched in 17 games and totaled a 3.33 ERA, 6-3 record, 92.0 innings, 75 hits, 12 home runs, 37 runs, 37 walks, and 68 strikeouts. his regular season performance was imperative to the A's making it to the Wild Card game.
so congrats again to Michael for winning! i was rallying for him and i'm so happy for and proud of him! that was certainly one hell of a comeback.👏😀 it's great to see Michael finally be rewarded for being a consistent .300 hitter and this shows you don't need 30+ home runs to be validated in MLB! you know, i thought he was going to win CPOY in 2017 before he missed 50 games in the second half with his ankle sprain. don't forget, he only played in 11 games in 2016 because, following offseason surgery in 2015 for a torn labrum, Michael underwent season-ending biceps tenodesis for what turned out to be chronic right biceps tendinitis. so he's really been making a comeback for a while and i'm very glad he won the award this year!💗 (even though it is the final award he's going to win as a Cleveland Indian...) be that as it may, i hope he doesn't ever win it again!😉
on the contrary, the Sporting News' 2018 AL Comeback Player of the Year Award went to Price on October 16 while Michael came in 3rd.🥉 besides that, MLB's 2018 AL Comeback Player of the Year Award went to Price on November 20 as well. the article on mlb.com did not give any information as to where other players finished in the vote, so i don't know if Michael was close to winning that one either. consequently, i was pleasantly surprised that Michael won this PCA award and i believe it was definitely well-deserved.🙌
do you think Michael should have won the other Comeback awards, too? let me know your thoughts in a comment below.💭
keep following me on twitter @clevelandgirl23 for all the latest news and rumors about Michael and where he might sign his next contract. did this award just improve his free agent stock? perhaps. and if you want to join my subscription list, just enter your email address in the box underneath the Blog Archive sidebar over on the upper right side of the page.📧
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