MLB Wild Card Round MVPs
The Wild Card round wrapped up last night, and now the spotlight shifts to the Divisional Series. The MLB doesn’t hand out individual awards for this round — but if they did, a few players would have earned the trophy. I’m going to break down some of the standout performers from the Wild Card round and how they powered their teams forward.
Here’s a quick look at the Divisional Series coming up this weekend:
American League:
Yankees at Blue Jays
Tigers at Mariners
National League:
Dodgers at Phillies
Cubs at Brewers
Honorable Mentions:
Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet: 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 11 K
Padres Mason Miller: 2.2 IP, 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 8 K — 104 MPH fastballs
Tigers Javy Baez: 5 for 11 (.455) with a double
Cam Schlittler
8 IP
12 K
5 Hits
Shutout Win
With all the headlines about two rookie starters going to head-to-head in a series deciding game in the infamous Yankees—Red Sox Rivalry, this is one of the last things people had imagined would be the outcome.
The 24 year-old from Walpole, Massachusetts was making just his 15th start of his career against the team he grew up rooting for and was ready for the moment. He lead theYankees to a 4-0 win and a date with the Blue Jays in the ALDS behind a shutout 8 inning performance. He struck out 12 Sox hitters and did not issue one walk.
His fastball (avg. velo 98.9 mph) seemed un-hittable along with his swing and miss off speed pitches. His 12 strikeouts set a franchise record for a rookie in the postseason (anytime you set a franchise record for the Yankees, it’s worth mentioning). He got a standing ovation from the die-hard Yankees fans after a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Schlittler has seemed to earn himself the trust of his team and manager, he should get the ball again in the next series against the divisional rival Blue Jays.
Dansby Swanson
Swanson’s glove stole the show — saving runs, turning double plays, and shutting down rallies to swing the series.
Dansby went 2-9 with a RBI and a walk but more importantly, he was a game-changer at shortstop. In Game 1, he kept two runs off the board and made a brilliant over-the-shoulder grab to rob Ryan O’Hearn. In Game 3, he took two hits away from Luis Arraez and turned two key double plays. Simply put, his glove changed the series.
“I don’t think they give an MVP for this round, [but] I’d give it to Swanson,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. Dansby played his tail off, man. He almost single-handedly beat us with his glove,” said Shildt after the Padres’ elimination.
I also want to mention Nico Hoerner (16 OAA this year — Gold Glove last year), he made a stellar play in the 7th inning of game 3, taking a line drive out of the air and saving a run. Matt Shaw was also in on the action with a few nice plays and of course Pete Crow-Armstrong made his defense felt with a diving grab.
This is the way the Cubs play — their pitchers limit walks and their defense shines, while they are capable of manufacturing runs on offense. This team has it’s identity and should be a great matchup with divisional foes in the Brewers in the NLDS.
Tarik Skubal
7.2 IP
14 K
1 ER
Win
The Tigers lefty ace and 2024 Cy Young winner put up a stellar performance in game 1 of the series in Cleveland. Skubal stuck out 14 batters through 7.2 innings — the last time a lefty put up that many Ks in a postseason game was 1975. The Guardians had a 46% whiff rate and only two hitters got the ball out of the infield.
Skubal has been great all season posting a 2.21 ERA (2.73 xERA) with 241 strikeouts (2nd in MLB). The Tigers have leaned on him all year and he has delivered.
He set the tone for the series after his team collapsed in September, surrendering the largest division lead in MLB history — to the team that took it away. As AJ Hinch said, it doesn’t matter how they got into the postseason, it matters that they’re in it — and Skubal delivered for his manager and team.
This performance not only was great in the numbers, but I feel like this had a huge impact in the clubhouse for Detroit. Look for Skubal to pitch two games against Seattle, you want a guy with that talent to throw as much as possible.
Dodgers Starting Pitching
13.2 IP
2 ER
9 K
The Dodgers and Reds series hasn’t grabbed too many headlines with a sweep and what we had all expected from the defending champion Dodgers. I could’ve picked Mookie Betts (6 for 9, 3 doubles, 3 RBI) or Shohei Ohtani (3 for 9, 2 HR, 2 RBI) or even Teoscar Hernandez (4 for 10, 2 HR, 6 RBI).
But the Dodgers starters in this series (Blake Snell — 7 IP, 2 ER, 9K) and (Yoshinobu Yamamoto — 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 9K) set the tone against a hungry Reds team and showed the rest of the league that they’re ready for another deep run.
For a team that had the 9th best starter ERA (3.69) in the MLB regular season while seemingly always battling injuries — it’s gotta be great to see their pitchers healthy and performing.
Everyone is going to be anticipating this series versus the Phillies, it might be the two best teams in the entire postseason.
