Oakland Athletics 2016 Player of the Year: Kendall Graveman
By Matt Veasey
The Oakland Athletics finished in the basement of the American League West Division in 2016, with a young pitcher selected as the club’s Player of the Year.
For the Oakland Athletics, it was a second consecutive disappointing last place finish in 2016. The club finished 69-93, just a game better than last year’s result in the American League West Division.
The A’s did have a couple of offensive players who produced strong numbers in some areas. Left Fielder Khris Davis bashed 42 home runs with 137 hits, 102 RBI and 85 runs scored to lead the club in all four categories.
Shortstop Marcus Semien banged 27 home runs with 75 RBI, 72 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases. Center fielder Billy Burns led the club with 14 steals in just 292 plate appearances.
Rookie third baseman Ryon Healy wasn’t promoted from the minor leagues until after the MLB All-Star break. He hit for a .305/.337/.524 slash line with 13 homers, 37 RBI, and 36 runs scored in just 283 plate appearances over 72 games.
Athletics Pitching Statistical Leaders
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On the mound, rookie lefty Sean Manaea won seven games over 25 outings, 24 of those starts, with a 3.86 ERA and 1.189 WHIP. He allowed 135 hits over 144.2 innings with a 124/37 K:BB ratio.
Ryan Madson stepped up as the closer. The veteran righty registered 30 saves while allowing 63 hits over 64.3 innings with a 3.62 ERA in 63 games.
The power-hitting offensive players produced poor numbers otherwise, and the pitchers’ peripherals were modest as well.
Graveman Takes A’s Player of the Year
In a close call, the choice for the club’s Player of the Year became 25-year-old right-handed starting pitcher Kendall Graveman.
Graveman went 10-11 over a rotation-high 31 starts. He allowed 196 hits over 186 innings with a 108/47 K:BB ratio. Pitching his first full season at age 25, Graveman finished with a 4.11 ERA and 1.306 WHIP.
On September 23, Graveman produced one of the few real highlights of the A’s season when he took a perfect game into the seventh inning at home against the Texas Rangers. That bid was broken up by a Carlos Gomez single.
Two huge factors in Graveman’s favor where that 16 of his 31 starts were quality starts, and that he led the team in WAR with a 3.3 mark. That was just ahead of Semien’s 3.0, and ahead of Davis’ 2.5 mark.
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“He seems to be getting better and better as the season goes along and really took ownership of the fact that he was the last guy and really has to anchor the rotation,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin in a nice piece by Jennifer Rainwater of Today’s Knuckleball.
During a season in which ace Sonny Gray lost most of the final two months to injury, and veteran lefty Rich Hill was dealt away at the trade deadline, Graveman did indeed anchor that rotation. For that effort he is named as the Oakland Athletics 2016 Player of the Year.