2018 Ben McDonald candidates

At first glance, it may seem like the 2018 Ben McDonald Award is a runaway. There was only one 20-game winner in the league last season and the same starter also led the league in ERA. But maybe not so fast.
Two other starters had historic seasons, setting new league records in strikeouts and K/BB ratio. And there were some monster seasons put up by relief pitchers.

The Ben McDonald Most Valuable Pitcher Award "recognizes the best performance by a pitcher (starter or reliever), as determined by a vote of the owners." Voters can choose up to 6 candidates on their ballots with points are awarded on a 10-7-5-3-2-1 basis.

If traditional stats are your thing, Stephen Strasburg of Hopatcong checks off an awful lot of boxes for a Cy Young contender: he was the league's only 20-game winner (20-3) and won the ERA title (2.55) while notching 17 consecutive wins, going May through August without a loss (from 2-1 to 19-1). He led the Floating Fish to a 49-31 (.612) second-half record and the No. 3 seed. Strasburg also challenged Pedro Martinez's record for win percentage in a season.

In the Cy Predictor model, Strasburg beats out two relievers for the award on the strength of his 20 wins, stellar win percentage, 200-plus innings, and his 246 strikeouts ranked 4th in the league. Voters who don't value pitcher victories might point out the 5.7 runs per game that Strasburg enjoyed from the Floating Fish offense, second highest in the league. But he also did lead the league (along with Chris Sale of San Francisco) with 25 quality starts.

Speaking of strikeouts, San Francisco's Chris Sale and Sardine City's Corey Kluber etched their names into the record books. San Francisco's ace lefty shattered the season strikeout record with 367 -- 18 more than the previous mark of 349, held by Randy Johnson. Despite a historic season, Sale's horrific first half is sure to hurt his McDonald candidacy. He only went 8-8 in the second half but finished 12-17 (tied for 3rd in losses) yet ranked 3rd in the league in WHIP (1.09) and 2nd in R/9 (10.2), on top of his league-best strikeout total plus K/9 (13.4).

Kluber will make his case among SABRmetricians, with a league-best 1.01 WHIP, 9.3 R/9, and a 9.4 BB/K ratio that broke the league record that had just been set in 2017 by Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw. He also led the league with 9 complete games and 252.7 innings. His 330 strikeouts rank 4th most in a season all-time. He's a big part of the reason the Straphangers went a league-best 52-30 (.634) in the second half, winning the Commissioner's Cup on their way to the No. 1 seed.

Perhaps it will be the year that a reliever wins the McDonald -- something that's never been done. Chad Green of Marietta and Andrew Miller of Sardine City were lights out coming out of their respective bullpens all season long. The Cy Young Predictor, which loves saves and wins, even has them right behind Strasburg. Even if they don't win the Big Ben, they're likely to be finalists for the Eck Award, recognizing the reliever with the most relief points on the season.


Green led the league with 34 saves, which is impressive but not so much McDonald worthy for a reliever (far behind Michael Wuertz's league-record 50 saves for Sardine City in 2010). The reason Green might get some support is how dominant he was beyond just save situations for a Marietta team that had the second-best record in the second half (50-29/.632). He's believed to be the first reliever in league history to eclipse 200 strikeouts in a season as the workhorse of the Mighty Men's bullpen, logging 136.7 innings in 86 appearances. He had a stellar 0.89 WHIP and ranked 3rd in the league with .121 inherited runners scored.

Miller recorded a double-digit wins (10-4) and was right behind Green with 33 saves but also had incredibly impressive stats. He sported a 0.75 ERA and 0.69 WHIP as the linchpin of the Straphangers bullpen. One drawback to his candidacy might be that he only recorded 84.3 innings in 68 appearances.

Behind Strasburg in the win column was Marietta's Luis Severino (18-6) and Tucson's Max Scherzer (18-7), both of whom are likely to garner consideration on some ballots. Scherzer ranked 3rd in the league with 280 strikeouts, behind Sale and Kluber, while Severino was fifth with 245. Scherzer helped Tucson to a 44-40 (.523), mark in the second half, earning the division title in an extra play-in game. He ranked 3rd in K/9 with 11.5 and tied with Sale for 2nd in R/9 with 10.2.

Michael Fulmer has been a workhorse since being drafted by El Paso in the 1st round of the 2017 draft (10th overall). That continued into 2018, even after the Chihuahuas dealt him in June to Philly for catching prospect Jorge Alfaro. Combined, Fulmer finished the season 14-12 (6-7 for El Paso, 8-5 for Philly), which won't turn any heads. But combined, the 26-year-old finished second in ERA behind Strasburg (2.87), second in complete games (7) to Kluber, and ranked among the league leaders in WHIP (1.10) and innings (219.7).

Rookie Luis Castillo (like Fulmer, a 1st rounder/10th overall by El Paso, but in 2018) also split time between two squads. El Paso shipped him to Vancouver for a 2019 1st rounder days after dealing Fulmer. He consistently ranked among the league leaders in ERA, ultimately finishing 3rd (2.90), but he may have a better shot at the Listach Award, given his 12-8 mark. He logged 182 innings and compiled 202 strikeouts.

Marcus Stroman (10-13) of Arkansas might not squeeze onto a ballot -- especially with a losing record -- but he deserves some honorable mention for his league-best 4 shutouts, thanks in part to a league-best 46 ground ball double plays. He trailed only Sale and Strasburg with 24 quality starts.

Vancouver ace Aaron Nola also could show up on some ballots. His 14-10 record is decent but he also showed up within the top 10 among pitchers in strikeouts (237) and 3rd in innings (231.3) along with 4 complete games and 3 shutouts.