The Los Angeles Dodgers remained shut out in the 2021 Baseball Writers’ Association of America Awards, but did have Trea Turner, Max Muncy and Max Scherzer appear on the final ballot for National League MVP, which went to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper.
Turner was the highest of the trio, garnering one first-place vote, three second-place votes, and three third-place votes. He finished in fifth place with 185 total points.
Muncy received one sixth-place vote, three for seventh place, one eighth-place vote, and six votes apiece for ninth and 10th place. He finished 10th overall in NL MVP voting with 38 total points.
Scherzer received one vote each for fifth, eighth and ninth place. That amounted to 11 points and ranking 14 overall.
Harper had 17 of 30 first-place votes and 348 points to edge the Washington Nationals’ Juan Soto (six first-place votes, 274 points) and San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (two first-place votes, 244 points).
Each of the finalists had a strong season, but it was a mild surprise Turner didn’t get included in that group. He hit .322/.369/.521 in 96 games for the Nationals before being sent to the Dodgers along with Scherzer in a blockbuster trade at the deadline.
Turner only improved from there as he batted .338/.385/.565 with 17 doubles, 10 home runs, 28 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 52 games with the Dodgers. Between contributions for both teams, he led all of baseball with 195 hits, won the NL batting title and compiled a career-best 6.5 WAR.
Turner closed out the regular season in a flurry and earned NL Player of the Week honors for Sept. 27-Oct. 3.
Muncy appearing on the final NL MVP ballot marks a third time inn his career, as he previously placed 15th in both 2018 and 2019.
Muncy got off to a slow start this past season and wound up enduring an uneven year. A hot month May was followed by more struggles in June, then another peak in July, only to hit a valley in August and have marginal improvement over September.
The 31-year-old still led the Dodgers this year with 36 home runs and 94 RBI, and was second with an .895 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Scherzer was everything the Dodgers hoped for after the trade, as he went on a historic stretch by posting a 7-0 record to go along with a 1.98 ERA over 11 starts.
Scherzer finished the year a combined 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 11.84 strikeouts per nine innings and .185 opponents’ batting average this season. He led the Majors in WHIP and batting average against, and was second in the NL in ERA and strikeouts per nine.
Buehler lobbied for Turner to be MVP
Turner led the NL in WAR, batting average and stolen bases, while also finishing third in runs, sixth in wRC+ and wOBA, eighth in on-base percentage, and 18th in home runs.
“I don’t know why Trea isn’t getting spoken about in the MVP stuff as much,” Walker Buehler said as the regular season came to a close.
“He’s had an extremely special year and had a year that not many players can have. You can hit 100 homers or whatever, but Trea is a special player and a game-changing player. I think Trea Turner needs to be on the minds of some people.”
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