Kansas City Royals 2017 Awards: Eric Hosmer or Whit Merrifield for MVP?

Comeback Player of the Year: Mike Moustakas

Here’s one of the few instances where a midseason award winner hangs on to the honor. Mike Moustakas slumped badly after the midway point in August, but his full body of work earns him Comeback Player of the Year.

While the Kansas City Royals had a few great comeback stories, Moustakas went above and beyond what anyone could have expected this season. Coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his 2016 campaign early, Moose put up power numbers Royals fans have never seen.

Moustakas piled up 25 home runs before the All-Star break. However, injuries and fatigue caught up to him in the second half. After reaching 35 home runs on Aug. 15, Moustakas only hit three homers over the final month-and-a-half of the season.

He still wound up with a great statline. Moustakas added 24 doubles and 85 RBI to his 38 homers. He surprisingly featured in 148 games while slashing .272/.314/.521.

The third baseman set the franchise’s single-season home run record with his 37th of the year. That record alone makes this a fairly easy decision.

However, Vargas and Mike Minor put up a good fight. Vargas finished tied for the MLB lead in wins, while Minor excelled after not having pitched in the majors since 2014. But Moustakas’ outstanding year at the plate, trumps the other two free agent standouts.

Each of the three is likely in for a nice payday this offseason after resurrecting their respective careers in a way.

Runner-up: Minor

Biggest Surprise: Whit Merrifield

It’s pretty easy to be a major surprise when you start the season in the minor leagues, and then wind up leading the league in a counting stat. Whit Merrifield pulled that off in 2017. Despite not being called up until mid-April, the second baseman ended up leading the American League in stolen bases with 34.

While he clearly didn’t spend much time at Triple-A Omaha, Merrifield still shocked everybody in the organization by turning into one of the most well-rounded players in baseball. He hit for average, power, played good defense, had a strong enough arm for second base and utilized his speed.

While he clearly didn’t spend much time at Triple-A Omaha, Merrifield still shocked everybody in the organization by turning into one of the most well-rounded players in baseball.

Merrifield featured in 145 out of the possible 150 games in which he could have played. During those 145 games, he hit .288/.324/.460. After hitting just two home runs in 81 games in 2016, Merrifield hit 19 homers and added 78 RBI and 80 runs.

While some of his struggling teammates finally started hitting well down the stretch, Merrifield went in the other direction. He had just a .250 average in August. Even though his average improved to .306 during September, his base-running took a step back. Merrifield was caught stealing on six of his 14 attempts in the month after only being nabbed twice in 28 attempts through the end of August.

Regardless, Merrifield had little competition in taking home this honor, despite the number of surprises the Kansas City Royals had in 2017.

Runner-up: Jake Junis

Biggest Disappointment: Alex Gordon

At the All-Star break, Brandon Moss occupied this spot. That decision had to do with his meager 16 RBI in 181 at-bats. Ironically, the designated hitter had the exact same number of at-bats in the second half, but he drove in more than twice as many runs (34) during those 181 at-bats.

That was enough to lift him out of this unwanted award. Instead, it allowed Alex Gordon to drop into this spot. The highest-paid player on the Kansas City Royals, Gordon finished with nine home runs and 45 RBI in 148 games.

Those numbers would be a lot worse if it wasn’t for a decent September. Over the final month of the season, he had four of his nine home runs and eight of his 45 RBI. His batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage were also higher in September than any other month of the season. His final month triple-slash line was .250/.337/.452 compared to his season line of .208/.293/.315.

Those numbers would be abysmal for a rookie, but when you consider Gordon’s experience—plus the aforementioned spot on the payroll—it virtually guarantees him this award. That’s saying something considering the number of disappointing players the Kansas City Royals employed this season.

The hope is that Gordon is able to carry over some of the momentum and confidence that September gave him into 2018. If not, it’s possible he lands in this spot again next season.

Runner-up: Kelvin Herrera

Pitcher of the Year: Jason Vargas

Some fans might argue Junis deserved to edge out the veteran Vargas for this honor. It helped the rookie’s case that he excelled during the time that Vargas struggled. However, that does a disservice to the incredible overall season Vargas put together.

The left-hander had one of the best first halves of a season in Kansas City Royals history. His record entering the All-Star Game was an incredible 12-3. Vargas added a 2.62 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.

It earned him a spot on the American League All-Star team. He pitched one inning in the Midsummer Classic. It was a scoreless frame that marked his final clean appearance for some time. That’s because Vargas regressed mightily at the beginning of the second half.

He had an atrocious 1-5 record in the month of August with a terrible 7.18 ERA. Vargas bounced back towards the end of September before a disappointing start in the season finale.

Even still, Vargas finished with the most complete season of any Kansas City Royals pitcher. All told, the impending free agent had an 18-11 record. The 18 wins tied him for the most in MLB. He finished with a 4.16 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.

With Vargas and Minor likely on the way out this offseason, Junis is set up to possibly be the best pitcher in 2018. But for 2017, that honor goes to Vargas.

Runner-up: Minor

Most Valuable Player: Eric Hosmer

It’s a sign of how crazy the 2017 season was for the Kansas City Royals that the two players battling for our MVP honors at the midway point in the season were Moustakas and Salvador Perez.

Now that we have reached the end of the season, the two players up for the biggest honor are Hosmer and Merrifield. It underscores the value of health.

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Perez and Moustakas were both banged up for stretches of the second half. Hosmer and Merrifield, meanwhile, remained healthy throughout the season. Hosmer played in all 162 games, while Merrifield featured in all but five games in which he could have played.

So why Hosmer over Merrifield? Going off Baseball Reference’s WAR itself would give the slightest of advantages to the first baseman (4.0 to 3.9). Although, both are well behind Lorenzo Cain (5.3) in that category.

Hosmer had more home runs (25 to 19), RBI (94 to 78) and a better slash line (.318/.385/.498 to .288/.324/.460) than Merrifield. Being the Most Valuable Player, though, goes beyond that.

There’s a reason fans of the Kansas City Royals are terrified of the prospects of  losing Hosmer in free agency. Merrifield has been a revelation this season and will be leaned on heavily during the rebuild, especially if Hosmer leaves, but he is not yet a leader on this team.

Hosmer is. That’s one reason he’s not only the best player on the team, but also the most valuable.

Runner-up: Merrifield

Next: An Early Look at the 2018 Schedule

Now, the only questions is: Will Hosmer will have a chance to be MVP of the Kansas City Royals in 2018?