FanSided’s NL Player of the Year: Matt Kemp
By Editorial Staff
The Los Angeles Dodgers made it a sweep of FanSided’s National League Pitcher and Player of the Year awards, as Matt Kemp took home our site’s top honor. Beyond Kemp, a pair of sluggers from Milwaukee, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, finished second and third.
Kemp nearly capped off his impressive 2011 campaign by winning the NL Triple Crown. Finishing first in the league in home runs (39) and RBI’s (126), Kemp narrowly missed out on the award as he ended the season 13 points behind NL Batting Champion Jose Reyes.
Kemp not only proved he could get it done at the plate, but also on the base paths. Kemp trailed only Michael Bourn in steals in 2011, finishing the year with 40. All of his impressive statistics earned Kemp the highest fWAR in the National League (8.7).
Braun and Fielder showed the baseball world just how potent they are offensively over the past few weeks, leading the Brewers to the NLCS. In the postseason, the dynamic duo combined to hit 11 doubles and five home runs while driving in 16 runs. During the regular season, Fielder finished second to Kemp in homers (38) and RBI’s (120), while Braun turned in the NL’s best OPS (.994). Braun also contributed 33 stolen bases and eight outfield assists, leading to the Senior Circuit’s second best fWAR (7.8)
Here’s a complete list of NL players receiving votes and their totals.
The way the voting is tallied is as follows: first place votes – 14 points, second place votes – 9 points, third place votes – 8 points, fourth place votes – 7 points, fifth place votes – 6 points, sixth place votes – 5 points, seventh place votes – 4 points, eighth place votes – 3 points, ninth place votes – 2 points, tenth place votes – 1 point.
1. Matt Kemp (LA Dodgers) – 325
2. Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers) – 234
3. Prince Fielder (Milwaukee Brewers) – 148
4. Justin Upton (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 111
5. Joey Votto (Cincinnati Reds) – 101
6. Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals) – 94
7. Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies) – 75
8. Jose Reyes (New York Mets) – 72
9. Lance Berkman (St. Louis Cardinals) – 68
10. Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers) – 48
11. Hunter Pence (Philadelphia Phillies) – 30
12. Roy Halladay (Philadelphia Phillies) – 27
13. Shane Victorino (Philadelphia Phillies) – 23
14. Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies) – 14
15. Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Phillies) – 12
16. Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates) – 12
17. Michael Morse (Washington Nationals) – 9
18. Mike Stanton (Florida Marlins) – 9
19. Ian Kennedy (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 8
20. Aramis Ramirez (Chicago Cubs) – 8
21. Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves) – 6
22. Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds) – 4
23. Chris Young (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 4
24. Starlin Castro (Chicago Cubs) – 3
25. Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado Rockies) – 3
26. Tim Hudson (Atlanta Braves) – 3
27. Carlos Beltran (San Francisco Giants) – 2
28. John Axford (Milwaukee Brewers) – 1
29. Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves) – 1
30. Yadier Molina (St. Louis Cardinals) – 1
31. Pablo Sandoval (San Francisco Giants) – 1
Other end of the year voting: