Votes are in! With the conclusion of the 2019/20 BISL regular season it’s now time to announce the league award winners
Cy Young Award: This year’s Cy Young award winner is Tim Martin of the Suns. This is Tim’s first Cy Young award and is well deserved as he gave the Suns the pitching and stability to win the league.
Silver Slugger: The Silver Slugger award has changed a bit over the years. For a while, it simply went to the player with the highest batting average. It has evolved to a voted on award for best hitter. This year there were three players receiving votes. The most votes went to Zack Wade of the Suns. Zack becomes the first player to win Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove in the same season.
Gold Glove Outfield: This award was dominated by one player when it first began being awarded, but this will be the 5th year in a row with a first time winner. Congratulations to Max Cohen of the Suns for his first Gold Glove award. He covered a lot of ground for the Suns and stole quite a few extra base hits this season.
Gold Glove Infield: Infield Gold Glove has been a traveling award, with only Skylar Sukapornchai and Cameron Perry winning it twice. This year sees another first time winner in Zack Wade, who played shortstop for the Suns. The centrepiece of the Suns defense, his range took away hits from quite a few players.
Rookie of the Year: This award was first given in 2010 to a young Chris Manley, who is also the only player to win both Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Surprisingly, very few past winners are still active in the league, only Chris and last year’s winner Zack Wade remain active. In a very close vote, this year’s Rookie of the Year is Jett Nakamura from Long Table. Jett was near the top of the league all season in batting average, finishing 5th at .633. Jett also finished 7th in Runs Created per 21 Outs at 22.40. This means that a lineup of only Jett’s would score 22.40 runs in a 7 inning game.
All League Team & MVP: All league team was determined by manager votes for MVP. Top 10 vote getters become the All-League team and top vote getter is MVP.
Tie for 9th
Gary Stewart: Long Table
This is Gary’s league leading 8th All-League selection and he had a great season in earning it. Gary was second in Home Runs with 8, extending his already huge all time home run lead. He was also 5th in slugging, 3rd in RBI and 2nd in ISO
Robert Gullet: Tilac
In his first season in BISL, Rook had a huge impact with his bat. He led the league in Home Runs, OPS, Slugging% and ISO and was near the top of the leaderboard in a number of other categories.
8th
Danny Gies: Tilac
Surprisingly, this is Danny’s first all league selection. Danny led the league in RBI with 49 and was 5th in runs with 42. He was also near the top of the lead in many other categories and this, combined with his usual excellent outfield defense makes him a deserving all league selection.
7th
Yuma Haruna: Long Table
In his second season in BISL, Yuma makes his first All-League team. Yuma hit .617, good for 7th in the league and was among the leaders in OBP, runs, hits, double, triples, wOBA, OPS, Runs Created and RC/21. He also played an excellent defensive left field for Long Table.
6th
Mark Matula: Tilac
Mark’s first all-league selection in his first full season in the league. Mark was 4th in RBI, runs, runs created and hits. He also tied for 4th in Home Runs with 5.
5th
Kong Hongsrisuwan: Long Table
Another excellent offensive season for Kong, earning him his 4th All League selection. Kong was 3rd in the league in batting at .655 and 6th in slugging at 1.036. He was also second in triples with 4 and 4th in OPS at 1.725
4th
Brett Estin: Tilac
Brett is now tied for second in all league selections with 7 and earned this selection with another great season leading off for Tilac. He lead the league in runs with 53 and was second in hits with 60. He was also second in walks and third in Runs Created.
3rd
Jun Lin: BMW
This is Jun’s 5th All league selection and he was his usual excellent self both at the plate and in the field for BMW. Jun was 3rd in Home Runs with 7 and 5th in RBI with 37. He also received a deserving vote for outfield gold glove.
2nd
Max Cohen: Suns
In addition to winning the outfield Gold Glove award, Max led off for the league champs this season and set the tone for their offense all year. Max hit .716, good for second in the league and led the league in on base percentage at .726. He was also 3rd in slugging, runs, triples and hits. Max also led the league in wOBA and was second in OPS, runs created and RC/21 outs. A truly excellent season at the plate and in the field.
MVP
Zack Wade: Suns
No real surprise here, as Zack became the first player to win both the infield Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards in the same season. It would be quicker to mention the categories Zack was not near the top the league in, as he had an amazing offensive season.