To be clear: I do not buy into the premise that a guy who “carried his team to the playoffs” deserves the MVP. Mostly because I don’t believe that one player can truly do that. Baseball is not basketball. It takes an entire team to win anything, and even if some guy gets hot at the right time, there were wins earlier in the season that helped the team into the playoffs that were attributable to others’ contributions. The baseball season is just too long and too many things happen to say one guy dragged his teammates to glory.
But if you are someone who buys into that -- and given how much support Justin Verlander has received of late for that very reason, there are many -- don’t you have to think hard about switching your vote to Jacoby Ellsbury?
The Sox have been truly awful in September, but Ellsbury has been a bright spot. He’s hitting .322/.377/.551 with seven homers and 19 RBI on the month. Add in last night’s heroics for the narrative-lovers and you have a much more solid case -- if the Sox hold on and make the playoffs -- that Ellsbury dragged his teammates over the hump than you do for Verlander who, while awesome, is pitching for a team who clinched last week and has a huge lead.
Not to say that Ellsbury isn’t a fine choice even if you don’t subscribe to the “he carried them in” school of thought -- he is -- but if that’s the basis for your vote for Verlander, how do you not switch to Ellsbury right now?