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One just tied Bobo Newsom‘s single-season team record for 18 straight starts to the season without a loss and the other has 90 first-half RBIs and should challenge single-season RBI record of 191.
Oh, and did I to mention that both baseball’s best pitcher Max Scherzer and baseball’s best pure hitter Miguel Cabrera are on the same team, the Detroit Tigers?
Seriously, there must be something in the water in Detroit.
After being swept by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series last season, there is no doubt a bitter taste in the Tigers’ mouths. And with their 2013 numbers so far (second in MLB in runs, first in AVG, second in OBP, third in SLG), there is a really good shot they will be back with a second chance for a championship.
But this isn’t about that. This is about a slightly different, yet highly competitive race for the AL MVP. And fittingly, if the season ended today, it would be contested between two Tigers: Scherzer and Cabrera.
For one to be considered the best pitcher on a team that includes Verlander is certainly an accomplishment in and of itself, but Scherzer is more than just Detroit’s best pitcher. At 13-0 and 146 strikeouts, Scherzer has quite literally been unbeatable and is the best pitcher in baseball to start the 2013 season.
While his dominance is impressive, Scherzer does not have a clear advantage because Cabrera is tearing the cover off of the baseball at an astronomical rate.
In a year when an offensive player has 90 RBIs, 28 HRs, 68 R and a .364 average, no pitcher who plays a role in just 18 of his team’s wins is going to hold a candle to what Cabrera has done. Perhaps most importantly is the fact that Cabrera is actually having an even better season this year than his Triple Crown-winning season.
Simply incredible.
There is no denying that both of these guys have been excellent and are each on their own record-breaking paces. Cabrera easily gets the MVP vote, however if there was ever a year to give out two of those awards, 2013 would be the year that Cabrera and Scherzer should be the co-winners.
Marilee Gallagher is a Philadelphia Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow her on Twitter @MGallagher17 like her page on Facebook, or join her network on Google+
