The Dodgers Way Season End Awards

Jacob Rudner- Ross Stripling

There were so many great options for this pick. Walker Buehler was unreal and a close second in this, Hyun Jin Ryu was lights out but spent significant time on the DL and Clayton Kershaw was strong from start to finish. At the end of the day, Stripling contributed 122 innings in 2018 with a career-best 3.02 ERA and 128 ERA+. Stripling declined a bit in the second half but his first-half contributions warrant the Dodger Cy Young for me.

Hector Ponce- Walker Buehler

This kid is special. He showed us this season just how special he is. He led the team (min 100 IP) in ERA, WHIP, FIP and WPA (win probability added). He also made the most important start of the regular season and did not disappoint. In game 163 he stifled the Rockies and helped the Dodger clinch their 6th consecutive NL West title.

Megan Garcia- Hyun-Jin Ryu

Even with an injured groin and extensive stint on the disabled-list, Ryu had his best season in the majors and anchored the Dodgers’ inconsistent starting rotation. In less than 85 innings pitched, Ryu sported a 1.97 ERA and was striking out 9.7 hitters per nine innings.

Sean Coghlan- Walker Buehler

Seemingly out of nowhere, 24-year-old Walker Buehler was a spark the Los Angeles rotation needed. As multiple starters sat on the DL, and as pitchers like Ross Stripling cooled off, Buehler got better as the season progressed. His opponent’s batting averaged decreased steadily from June to October, going from .326 in June to .137 in October. His 2.62 was good for second on the team, after oft-injured Hyun-Jin Ryu, and his WHIP (0.961) was best on the team and would’ve been fourth best in the league had he pitched enough to qualify. While Clayton Kershaw is still the staff ace, Buehler’s first full year could put his name in Cy Young races for years to come.

Jake Matthews- Clayton Kershaw

This was even tougher than MVP.  So many Dodger pitchers had great runs during the course of the season.  Like so many Dodger pitchers, Hyun Jin Ryu spent his fair share of time on the DL last season, but he certainly had a great start and a great finish.  In the end, If I could split the season in half on this one I’d say that Ross Stripling wins for the first half and Walker Buehler wins for the second half.  But if I had to pick one pitcher for the full season, I’d probably go with Clayton Kershaw.  He was the best over the course of the season and I think he pitched better than his numbers showed (other than a few blowouts in his favor, he had pretty lousy run support overall).

Nate Eckert- Walker Buehler

To me, this was a total no-brainer. Numbers aside (which are obviously out of this world, along with his stuff), he turned from wunderkind to ace in Game 163 and wholly solidified that role in the World Series. It’s hard to get more excited about any other pitcher in baseball, let alone the Dodgers.