We close out the 2015 MLB awards season with two more first-time winners, as Bryce Harper and Josh Donaldson claimed the NL and AL MVP awards on Thursday night.
The 22-year old Harper won the NL award unanimously, collecting all 30 first place votes and the maximum 420 points. He hit a wild .330/.460/.649 with a league-leading 42 homers. His .330 average ranked second in the NL, while he paced the league in runs with 118 along with both OBP and slugging percentage. Harper also finished second in the NL in walks with 124, fifth in the NL in doubles with 38, and fifth in the NL with 99 RBI.
Paul Goldschmidt finished as the runner-up to Harper, receiving 18 second place votes and 234 total points. Goldschmidt was the only player other than Harper to appear on every ballot. Joey Votto came in third with one second place vote and 175 points. Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs finished fourth, receiving three second place votes and 162 points. Andrew McCutchen came in fifth with one second place vote and 139 points. NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta finished sixth, picking up five second place votes and 134 points. The remaining two second place votes went to Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, who finished seventh with 130 points.
The rest of the voting was filled out by Nolan Arenado (eighth place, 102 points), Buster Posey (ninth place, 84 points), Clayton Kershaw (tenth place, 49 points), Kris Bryant (11th place, 34 points), Matt Carpenter (12th place, 26 points), Yoenis Cespedes (13th place, 24 points), AJ Pollock (14th place, 21 points), Jason Heyward (15th place, 15 points), Dee Gordon (16th place, six points), Trevor Rosenthal (17th place, five points), Curtis Granderson (18th place, four points), Gerrit Cole (19th place, three points), and Adrian Gonzalez (20th place, three points).
TORONTO, CANADA – SEPTEMBER 25: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a solo home run for his fortieth of the season in the third inning during MLB game action against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 25, 2015 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Over in the AL, Donaldson had a fantastic year for the Blue Jays, hitting .297/.371/.568 with 41 homers. His 41 homers were tied with Mike Trout for the third-most in the AL, and his 41 doubles were tied for the fourth-most in the league. He received 23 first place votes and seven second place votes, picking up 385 points.
Mike Trout was the runner-up for the third time in four seasons, picking up seven first place votes, 22 second place votes, and one third place vote, good for 304 points. Lorenzo Cain of the Royals finished third with 20 third place votes and 225 points. Orioles third baseman Manny Machado finished fourth with four third place votes and 158 points. AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel finished fifth with 107 points. Coming in sixth was Nelson Cruz of the Mariners, with the remaining second place vote, one third place vote, and 94 points. In seventh was Adrian Beltre with 83 points, and in eighth was Donaldson’s teammate Jose Bautista with two third place votes and 82 points.
David Price picked up a third place vote and finished ninth with 62 points, while Jose Altuve of the Astros came in tenth with 44 points. The remaining third place vote went to Miguel Cabrera, finishing 11th with 40 points, while Edwin Encarnacion of the Jays came in 12th with 38 points. The rest of the ballot was filled out by Prince Fielder (13th place, 33 points), Chris Davis (14th place, 32 points), JD Martinez (15th place, 18 points), Jason Kipnis (16th place, 17 points), Kevin Kiermaier (17th place, ten points), and Kendrys Morales (18th place, seven points).
Plenty of players also received down ballot votes, many more than in the NL. Chris Sale and Mookie Betts were tied for 19th with four points. Jose Abreu, Ian Kinsler, and Mike Moustakas finished in a tie for 21st with three points. Carlos Correa, Eric Hosmer, Russell Martin, and Brian McCann all received two points and finished in a tie for 24th. And finally, in a tie for 28th with one point: Michael Brantley, Wade Davis, Brian Dozier, David Ortiz, Mark Teixeira…and Alex Rodriguez.
