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Mariners: Cruz Falls Short Of Winning Hank Aaron Award
By Adam Levi
A couple of days ago, the Hank Aaron award winners we decided by baseball fans and the media. The Mariners, Nelson Cruz, was the M’s representative on the ballot, but he couldn’t pull off a victory. However, this shouldn’t put a damper on his incredible offensive year.
This was the twenty-seventh year giving out this prestigious award for the best offensive player in each league. The Mariners were trying to have their first player engraved on the trophy. This year, it was Nelson Cruz who had the chance to bring some hardware back to Seattle, but in the end, he didn’t receive enough votes.
Cruz’s Year Broken Down
Cruz was beaten by baseball’s most recent retiree, David Ortiz. And that’s fair. Ortiz lead all of baseball with an OPS (On-Base + Slugging Percentage) of 1.021 and also lead in slugging percentage, boasting and outrageous figure of .620. He also led the MLB in doubles with forty-eight and was tied atop the American League in RBI with one hundred twenty-nine.
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Cruz’s numbers weren’t as good as Ortiz’s, but they were very impressive in their own right. For the third straight year, Cruz finished with over forty home runs. In 2016 he hit forty-three dingers, which was one shy of tying his career-high set last season. He also nearly tied his career-high in RBI. He finished the season with one hundred five, three shy of his best ever set back in 2014.
Cruz also amazed Mariners fans with his discipline. For a power-hitter, he draws far fewer walks than most of his counterparts in the league, but this season, he set a career-high for walks drawn with sixty-two. This helped him have a very respectable OBP (On-Base Percentage) of .360. Only twice in his career had he ever had a higher OBP when playing in at least one hundred games. That was in 2015 and 2010.
Next: Mariners New Minors Signings
In all, Cruz had a superb year, and fans took notice. “Nelly Boomstick” almost helped power the Mariners into the post season for the first time in fifteen years. Cruz is playing his best baseball in recent years, and the Mariners have in under contract for two more seasons. This means that, if Cruz continues to shine as he ages, he could still win the award as a Mariner.