Victorino as MVP?
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Victorino as MVP?
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CINCINNATI — No one will say Shane Victorino is the National League MVP, because he isn't. But the fact that we're even having this discussion says enough.
Victorino is unquestionably the Phillies' best hitter through 130 games in 2011. In the National League, he ranks eighth in batting average, eighth in on-base percentage and ninth in slugging percentage. He is second in the league with 14 triples, a career-high. He has 15 home runs and will probably set a career-high there, too.
He missed 27 games because of two disabled list stints.
And he should still appear on a majority of MVP ballots this fall. Yes, Joey Votto, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki and others are arguably having better seasons.
Voters are asked to pick the top 10 players in each league. Right now, Shane Victorino is one of them. That's an offensive transformation no one could have foreseen.
While Cole Hamels' triumphant return was the most important story of Monday's 3-2 victory, Victorino's home run ensured victory. It was easily a footnote because Victorino is having that kind of a season. His key hits are expected — even after momentary failure.
"The guy ends up striking him out," Charlie Manuel said, "threw him a couple of breaking balls on 3-1 and we had guys in scoring position. He swung at one and then took strike three. Then he comes back, gets a breaking ball and hits a home run.
"He has been getting a lot of extra-base hits and it seems like every one of them is big at the moment. He’s been getting some big hits for us."
The most impressive thing about Victorino's 2011, as I noted in a story a few weeks back, is how his game has evolved.
| Year | Age | Tm | PA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 25 | PHI | 462 | 1.3% | 11.7% | 5.2% | 7.1% | 2.25 | 0.80 |
| 2007 | 26 | PHI | 510 | 2.4% | 12.2% | 7.3% | 7.5% | 1.68 | 0.90 |
| 2008 | 27 | PHI | 627 | 2.2% | 11.0% | 7.2% | 8.3% | 1.53 | 0.81 |
| 2009 | 28 | PHI | 694 | 1.4% | 10.2% | 8.7% | 8.9% | 1.18 | 0.84 |
| 2010 | 29 | PHI | 648 | 2.8% | 12.2% | 8.2% | 8.3% | 1.49 | 0.80 |
| 2011 | 30 | PHI | 451 | 3.3% | 10.0% | 9.1% | 11.1% | 1.10 | 0.74 |
His strikeouts are down. His walks are up. He's hitting for more power, but not just home runs — the bad pattern that marred his 2010 season.
One more table:
| Hits | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | H | Inf | Bnt |
| 2006 | 25 | PHI | 119 | 14 | 2 |
| 2007 | 26 | PHI | 128 | 23 | 2 |
| 2008 | 27 | PHI | 167 | 36 | 9 |
| 2009 | 28 | PHI | 181 | 29 | 0 |
| 2010 | 29 | PHI | 152 | 18 | 2 |
| 2011 | 30 | PHI | 123 | 8 | 0 |
His career arc has followed common sense. As a major-leaguer in his early stages, Victorino relied heavily on his speed. In 2008, when he hit a then-career-best .293, 21.6 percent of his hits were on the infield. It was his game.
Now he's 30 and his power has filled out. Only 6.5 percent of his hits are of the infield variety. His 11.1 percent extra-base hits ranks eighth in the league (ahead of such names as Kemp, Prince Fielder, Lance Berkman, Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard). It required 2010 for Victorino to realize line drives are more valuable than trying to hit long balls. With age came maturity both mentally and physically.
For that, these Phillies are quite thankful. And the rest of baseball is probably about to notice.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
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Unlike Ryan Howard Shane makes contact and produces when it's needed to win games.... seldom is the case with Howard. Shane is the complete ball player. Howard's numbers may be impressive, but how many games did he cost the team by failing to produce with runners in scoring position. The answer = way too many. The Flyin Hawaiian has my vote for MVP and the #1 team player//— Al n SD- WAR is a joke.— shadow22
- I would say that he and Ruiz would be the most valuable on the team...right now.— thomdee
- somehow the criterion for MVP has been changed. it is the MVP of the league-not the MVP on the winning team. when Don Mattingly won Rickey henderson was the Mvp of that team.
the criteria should be- based on that season's overall performance who would be the first player chosen if you had your choice? ernie banks had 2 MVPS on 2 not so good teams. one player does not make a team have a winning season. somehow the idea of MVP has been distorted leaving viable candidates out because they're not on good teams.— benny1 - With all of his strikeouts and stellar defensive plays, Ryan Howard deserves the MVP!— phillyfanboy
- This doesn't even require any thought. I've been saying for some time now that Victorino is the Phillies' MVP this season. He's been by far the most consistent hitter, not to mention he covers a lot of ground in center and runs the bases very well. Yes, Howard still has the big power numbers, and I can't imagine this team winning without him, but Shane has really put it all together this year.— doug1834
- Correct Benny. In my day the MVP was the player that had the best year regardless of what team he was on. Somehow it mutated into this "has to be on a contender" nonsense. Banks is a perfect example and the one I always cite when the discussion comes up. It's atad off the point of the article but I'm glad you brought it up.— tpizza
- Ruiz is a nice complementary player and certainly excels at one thing --blocking the plate -- but enough about him --he's not much of a hitter and doesn't actually throw many runners out and as bad as Schneider is offensively and defensively, he actually calls a better game than Ruiz as pitchers have a better era wiht Schneider than with Ruiz -- so why the fascination with the weakest positon the Phils have had during this 1st place 5 year run and the one starter who has never been an all-star or gold glove (and for good reason)...— warbiscuit
- Ruiz only excels at blocking the plate and Schneider calls a better game? Are you trying to pick up the slack for Lonewolf who is gallantly serving our country in his family's basement?
— escapedcamden4monterey - Victorino is a legitimate MVP candidate...plus Shane has had some of the biggest hits in Phillies history...remember Victorino's grand slam against C.C. Sabathia in the playoffs...and everyone talks about the great Matt Stairs home run against the Dodgers, but Victorino also hit the winning home run later in that same inning....plus Victorino has won many gold gloves as one of the top outfielders in baseball.— frank105
- and shane is by far the best player on the team this year -- it's not even debatable— warbiscuit
- Kershaw and Verlander have all but clinched the Cy Youngs barring some unlikely melt-downs on their parts --MVPs are still among up to 5 contenders in each league but no Phils have realistic chances anymore for any major award (Halladay has been pedestrian the second half; if Cliff Lee continues throwing shutouts every time out he may be the dark-horse)-- be content with seeing if they can win a championship (and please don't even mention Manuel --he's a strategically-challenged manger who costs the Phis about 5 wins a year)— warbiscuit
- Man, that's a tough one. Vic and Chooch are my favorites... and so are everyone else! Ryan has the RBI's. Pence has made the batting order better, brought a new look, only been here a month though. One can argue Halladay's arrival has made every other starter, Hamels, Lee, Blanton, the pen, all better. Chooch has done great handling the staff. IS THERE REALLY ONE GUY WHO IS THIS TEAM'S MVP?... Tough to say. I'll keep Shane at the top of my BA even after Rollins returns. Is he MVP?... Is anyone?...
Yeah, okay. - Victorino is the Phils MVP, but he's not the NL MVP. This year I would give that honor to Ryan Braun. Braun is 2nd in batting average, 2nd in OPS, 1st in runs, 6th in hits, 11th in HR, 5th in RBI, and 7th in SB. The only guys having better all around offensive seasons than Braun are both in the AL: Jose Bautista and Curtis Granderson.— Bretzky
- Phils have better record and better era this yr when Schneider catches than when Ruiz catches --those are simply the facts maam --what the data says (in spite of the fact that Schneider is an atrotious hitter and can't throw anyone out)-- so everybody stop the nonsense about how Ruiz calls a great game .. and he's made some really bad pitch selections --particularly with relivers on the mound these past 5 years ... and Ruiz is a lifetime .262 hitter with no power (32 hrs in past 5 yrs) and is almost as bad as Schneider at throwing out runners --so what's all the accolade for what has clearly been the weakest postion on the team over past 5 years ? it seems more a matter of 'gee this guy is pretty mediocre and yet he starts for one of he best teams in baseball ..isn't that cool' kind of thing— warbiscuit
