He went on to talk about his strikeouts, and let the record show that he began the night fourth in that category with 118. But neither he, nor Mark Reynolds (121), nor Austin Jackson (120), who replaced him as the Tiger center fielder, has any reason to fear leading in that category, not as long as Adam Dunn (139) is around.
The AL MVP award is shaping up as a Boston-New York battle, with Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury, and, if his August and September rival his July, Dustin Pedroia all legit candidates, and Granderson very much in the hunt.
People who favor pitchers are also throwing in the name of CC Sabathia, who will take the mound this afternoon with a 13-2 record in his last 15 decisions, not to mention having surrendered just seven earned runs in his last 62 ⅔ innings.
Along those lines, you can bet Tiger boosters are putting forth the candidacy of Justin Verlander. But that’s not going to happen. The 2011 AL MVP was at Fenway Park last night.
The argument for Granderson begins with his appearance at the top of so many offensive categories (and let’s not forget his 20 stolen bases). But dig deeper and you’ll find that he was clearly the best Yankee player at a time when many other regulars were off to bad starts.
The word “valuable,’’ as opposed to “outstanding,’’ is a completely subjective affair, but it would be hard to argue that Curtis Granderson, who contributed an RBI single in last night’s 3-2 New York win, has not been the most “valuable’’ Yankee, in addition to the most statistically proficient.
Granderson got rolling in April with 6 homers, 14 RBIs, and an OPS of .908. He was even better in May, with 10 homers, 26 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.016.
He did not perform at quite that level in June (.845 OPS) and July (.876 OPS), but he has picked it up of late, arriving here on a roll of 12 for 31, 4 doubles, 8 RBIs, and 7 runs in the previous seven games.
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