Nationals announce 2017 award winners

Posted by TBNDavid On 09/29/2017

Three players will be honored by the Washington, D.C. media with an end-of-season award, the second season in which balloting for such awards was conducted. was voted the 2017 Nationals Player of the Year, while right-handed pitcher was again named the Pitcher of the Year, and Ryan Zimmerman became a repeat winner for the ‘Good Guy’ Award, given to a player who is exceptionally accommodating to the media and the community.

The players will receive their awards in an on-field ceremony before Saturday’s 7:05 p.m. game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Named the 2016 National League Comeback Player of the Year by Major League , Rendon has put together an MVP-caliber season in 2017. Ranking second in the National League (fourth in MLB) in Fangraphs.com WAR (6.8), Rendon has set career highs this season in doubles (41), home runs (24), RBI (97) and walks (84). Consistently one of the toughest at-bats in the league, Rendon has walked more times (84) than he has struck out (82) this season.

Rendon ranks in the National League in doubles (T3rd, 41) and on-base percentage (6th, .403), and since his historic 6-for-6, three-homer, 10 RBI game against the New York Mets on April 30, Rendon ranks third in the Major Leagues in OBP (.419), sixth in slugging percentage (.585), and tied for 10th in RBI with 92.

An elite defender at third base, Rendon leads all Major League third basemen in defensive runs above average (per Fangraphs.com) with 15.7 and ranks second among all Major League players. Colorado Rockies third baseman ranks second among National League third basemen with 9.0 DEF. Scherzer has followed up his 2016 National League Cy Young season with a campaign worthy of making him a three-time winner of pitching’s highest honor. As he continues to assert himself as one of the best pitchers in the game, capable of complete domination each time he takes the mound, Scherzer’s elite consistency remains his hallmark.

Entering his final start of the season, Saturday vs. Pittsburgh, Scherzer ranks among National League pitchers in strikeouts (1st, 263), opponent on-base plus slugging percentage (1st, .571), opponent slugging percentage (1st, .322), WHIP (1st, 0.91), strikeouts per 9.0 innings (2nd, 11.99), opponent on-base percentage (2nd, .249), earned run average (2nd, 2.55) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4th, 4.87). He leads all National League pitchers in Fangraphs.com WAR (5.9).

Scherzer, who leads all active Major Leaguers with 64 career double-digit strikeout games, has posted 15 10-plus strikeout games this season, the most in Nationals history (2005-pres.) and second in franchise history only to Pedro Martinez’s 18 for the in 1997. In a year that also featured him becoming the third-fastest player in Major League history (by innings) to notch his 2,000th career strikeout, Scherzer also surpassed 250 strikeouts in a season for the fourth straight year – making him just the fourth in MLB history to compile four or more consecutive seasons with 250-plus strikeouts (per the Elias Sports Bureau).

Zimmerman, the Nationals’ longest-tenured player who enjoyed a career-best year in 2017, receives the second-annual ‘Good Guy’ Award from the D.C. media. While Zimmerman earned his second consecutive ‘Good Guy’ award for his “always-professional dealings with members of the media, and for representing the Nationals organization with class both on and off the field,” he was the winner of a crowded field. Eight different Nationals players received at least one vote from the D.C. media for the 2017 ‘Good Guy’ Award. After the first round of balloting, Zimmerman and Jayson Werth both received such overwhelming support that the vote necessitated a run-off election, in which Zimmerman narrowly edged Werth to take home the award.

Through his work with the ziMS foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis, his contributions to completely renovating what is now known as ‘Ryan Zimmerman Field’ at the Randall Recreation Center, as well as the many other ways he gives back to the D.C. community, Zimmerman is also the Nationals’ 2017 Roberto Clemente Award nominee. It's the fifth time that Zimmerman has been selected as the team's representative for the award (2007, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017).

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