At the end of the 2013 campaign, the Pittsburgh Pirates cleaned up when it came to collecting season ending awards. They have a chance to do so again this season.
Both Andrew McCutchen and Clint Hurdle were named finalists for the same awards they took home a season ago after leading the Bucs to a second consecutive postseason appearance.
McCutchen is among the three contenders for the 2014 MVP award, along with Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw and Miami outfielder Giancarlo Stanton.
Cutch put up numbers in 2014 similar to what he did in 2013 when he captured his first MVP. He hit 25 homers with 83 RBI while posting a.314/.410/.542 slash line, which is close to the 21-84 and .317/.404/.508 of 2013.
McCutchen should have a reasonable chance of winning back-to-back MVP’s as some voters won’t vote for a pitcher as the league’s MVP. Either way it looks to be a close race, which will be announced next Thursday.
As for Hurdle, many people believe that he did a better job in 2014 than he did last season when he captured the National League Manager of the Year award.
Hurdle’s Pirates this season finished at 88-74, following the 94 win campaign of 2013.
This year he has to beat out both San Francisco’s Bruce Bochy and Washington’s Matt Williams. History isn’t on Hurdle’s side though as only Atlanta’s Bobby Cox has won the award in back-to-back seasons during the past 31 years.
The winner of the award will be announced next Tuesday.
The top three finalists for each BBWAA award were announced on Tuesday, with the winners being announced all next week on the MLB Network.
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