Should Pitchers Be Eligible For the MVP Award?

Should pitchers be eligible for the MVP award? This is a question I’ve been asking for quite awhile now. Part of me says yes, pitchers should be eligible to win MVP, but then another part of me says no, pitchers have there own award. I’ll now go on to make my case on why pitchers should and shouldn’t be eligible for the MVP award.

Why Pitchers Should Be Eligible For MVP: Pitchers should be eligible for the MVP award because the MVP award signifies the most valuable player on a team. If a team makes the playoffs courtesy of their ace more then their best offensive player, their pitcher should win it depending how good his numbers are and how far ahead they were in the standings to end the season.

I bring this up because of the season the Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander is having. The Tigers have a eight and a half game lead over the Whitesox in the AL Central. Justin Verlander’s numbers appear as such: 22-5 , 2.44 ERA , 232 K’s , 0.91 WHIP , 4 CG’s, 2 SO’s and 1 no hitter. It’s also only September 7th, Verlander could end up racking up 25 wins and 250+ K’s. Verlander leads the MLB in W’s , K’s , WHIP and is 2nd in ERA.

If the Tigers didn’t have Verlander, who knows where they are in the AL Central race, they could be 1-10 games out. Without Verlander, the Tigers go from 81-62 to 59-57. Of course a replacement would be in place and they’d be at 65-70 wins at least but then they would be somewhere between a few games out of first place to maybe a couple games up or tied for first maybe. It’s a big difference going from eight games ahead to a couple games out. Verlander is having his best season and seems to be locking up the Cy Young award. The Cy Young award, an award for the best pitcher, this is where i bring up my point on why pitchers shouldn’t be eligible for the MVP award.

Why Pitchers Shouldn’t Be Eligible for MVP: Pitchers have their own award, the Cy Young award. No hitters are eligible for this, only pitchers. This award honors the best pitcher in each league. In the AL there was a three way race in July between Verlander , the Yankees C.C Sabathia and the Angels Jered Weaver. Justin Verlander has been virtually untouchable all season and has started to run away with the award.

The Cy Young award shows the best pitchers, so shouldn’t the MVP honor the best hitter? I’ve heard many mixed views on if pitchers should be considered for the MVP also, more people saying no. The last pitcher to win the AL MVP was in 1992 when Dennis Eckersley won it in Oakland. The last time a pitcher won the NL MVP was in 1968 when Bob Gibson won it in St.Louis. It’s been a long time since a pitcher won either league’s MVP award. If the Cy Young is an award for the best pitcher, why shouldn’t the MVP be awarded to the best position player with the best offensive numbers?

This is why I think pitchers shouldn’t be eligible for the MVP award since they have their own award, the Cy Young. Then again, MVP does stand for Most.Valuable.PLAYER. If a pitcher has a ridiculously good season, better then any one position player, why shouldn’t he win the MVP? In my opinion, i think pitchers should be excluded from the MVP discussion and just stick with the Cy Young and let the position players battle it out for MVP. That’s just my take, what’s yours?