So who’s the favorite for NL MVP now?

By Aug 5, 2014, 12:02 PM EDT
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Our own Drew Silva asked a good question on Twitter this morning:

It seems to me that McCutchen and Tulo were clearly the best two candidates, with McCutchen probably being the favorite given that the Pirates are winning. As for Puig: he’s a good candidate. But Vegas doesn’t have him as the favorite right now. From Bovada:

Odds to Win the 2014 NL MVP
Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 4/7
Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) 7/4
Yasiel Puig (LAD) 10/1

It does seem like a pitcher’s year if McCutchen doesn’t come back effectively and soon. When Justin Verlander won his MVP in 2011 his ERA, ERA+, strikeout rate, walk rate and just about everything else was inferior to Kershaw’s right now. The one area where Verlander had a clear advantage was wins — 24 — whereas Kershaw, thanks to missing all of April, is on pace for “only” 19 wins. His minuscule loss total may make up for that to some extent, but maybe not enough to sway MVP voters who tend to like starting pitchers to win 24 games or more — seriously, go look it up — in order to claim the MVP too.

Should be interesting, though.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 9:19 PM EDT
dodgers syndergaard
Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”