Verlander deserves MVP as well

In the National League, I think the MVP is between Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp. I don't see anybody else winning that award. In the American League its a crowded field. Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Beltre, and Justin Verlander's teammate Miguel Cabrera all have good MVP cases. But Bautista played on a 4th place team, Granderson only batted .262, and Ellsbury's team collapsed down the stretch(no fault of his own). Cabrera did win the batting title and had a great season, but the Tigers would of been in trouble without Verlander.

Consider the season Verlander just had

ERA          2.40(1st in AL)
WHIP       0.92(1st)
Wins          24(1st)
Innings       251(1st)
Strikeouts  250(1st)

Verlander had one of the best pitching seasons of the last 20 years this past season. He had the most wins since Randy Johnson in 2002, and the lowest WHIP since Johan Santana in 2004. He pitched deeper into games this season by not trying to strike everybody out. He still led the league in strikeouts, but he pitched alot more innings than he usually does. He also gave up far less hits and walks, which were career lows for him.

The rest of the Tigers rotation was pretty average this season. Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello both had ERAs in the mid-4s, and Brad Penny was terrible this year. Phil Coke was moved back in the bullpen after being ineffective as a starter. They didn't have a good complementary starter until they picked up Doug Fister at the trading deadline, and he gave them 10 good starts. The Tigers won their division by 15 games, but Verlander won 24 of them. Verlander also was 9-0 in August and September when the Tigers went on a 38-16 run to win the division. Before the trading deadline they were 57-51, and Verlander was their only good starter going 16-5 during that span.

Dennis Eckersley was the last pitcher to win a MVP and that was nearly 20 years ago. Roger Clemens was the last starting pitcher to do it. Pedro Martinez should of have won in 1999, but two voters left him off the ballot. Pitchers don't win MVPs often, but I think with the year Verlander had he deserves it.