The Miami Marlins have never had a player take home the league's Most Valuable Player award but that could soon change.
Giancarlo Stanton was named as a finalist for the 2014 National League MVP award on Tuesday. The other two finalists for the award are Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Stanton led the entire NL in home runs and was up towards the top in several offensive categories. In addition to the prolific offense, Stanton shored up his defense in 2014 and is a nominee for a Gold Glove which would be the first of his young career. The slugger had his season cut short due to a serious injury or he likely would've led several more statistical categories.
Miami stayed in the playoff hunt into September which would have been impossible without the impact of Stanton on a daily basis. With him out of the lineup following the injury, the Marlins quickly resembled the 100-loss squad from 2013 more than the contending team they were for most of 2014.
Kershaw is the favorite to win the Cy Young award in the NL but could also be named MVP after a phenomenal season. Despite only appearing in 27 games for the Dodgers due to an early season injury, Kershaw won 21 games. The All-Star also had six complete games in an era where such games have become increasingly rare. His sparkling 1.77 E.R.A was the best of his career while his strikeout to walk ratio was also magnificent.
McCutchen who took home MVP honors for 2013 had a great year but his numbers trail Stanton in most areas. The Pirate had a slash line of .314/.410/.542 with 25 home runs and 83 runs batted in. One thing working against McCutchen however is that he was possibly not even the best player on his own team. Josh Harrison had a tremendous season in Pittsburgh as well and was a key reason for the team's winning record.
The MVP award will be announced on November 13th.
