The regular season ends in a little over a week now, and over the last few days we've been previewing the various major awards faces in each league. That means MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. Votes are due after the end of the regular season but before the postseason.
There is one other major away that is worth previewing, and that is the Comeback Player of the Year award. Like every other award, there's a Comeback Player of the Year in each league, and it goes to the player who "re-emerged on the baseball field during a given season." Usually that means coming back from injury or a poor season.
The Comeback Player of the Year award has been around since 2005 and it is voted on by the writers. There used to be a fan vote, but not anymore. Matt Harvey and Prince Fielder were named the 2015 Comeback Players of the Year. Here are this year's top Comeback Player of the Year candidates in each league. The players are listed alphabetically.
American League
A year ago Ian Desmond hit a weak .233/.290/.384 with 19 home runs and 187 strikeouts as a shortstop for the Nationals. He didn't get many bites in free agency, and wound up signing a one-year deal with the Rangers. As an outfielder. Desmond has taken to the outfield extremely well and is hitting .287/.338/.456 with 22 home runs so far this season. He was a deserving All-Star as well.
Rick Porcello presents an interesting case. Is he truly "coming back," or is this a case of a prime-aged player breaking out? After all, Porcello came into the season with a career 4.39 ERA in over 1,200 innings. This could be the case of a 27-year-old reaching his peak. Either way, he's having a marvelous 2016 season, going 21-4 with a 3.08 ERA. Porcello will receive plenty of Cy Young votes.
Last season Hanley Ramirez was one of the worst players in all of baseball. He hit .249/.291/.426 with 19 home runs while playing catastrophically bad defense in left field. The Red Sox moved him to first base, and Hanley has come back this season to hit .293/.363/.516 with 29 home runs. He's also been solid around the bag defensively.
Knee problems limited Michael Saunders to only nine games in 2015 -- he played only 78 games in 2014 as well -- but he's stayed healthy this season, and has rewarded the Blue Jays with a .257/.340/.490 batting line and 24 home runs. This represents a career year for Saunders, who is due to become a free agent after the season.
Chris Tillman has been the Orioles' most reliable starter for several years now, though he was far too hittable last season, which led to a 4.99 ERA in 173 innings. He's rebounded well this year, and owns a 16-6 record with a 3.84 ERA in 166 1/3 innings. That's not too far removed with the 3.42 ERA he put up from 2012-14.
Other Candidates: Robinson Cano, Mariners; Yu Darvish, Rangers; Victor Martinez, Tigers; Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays
National League
The return from Tommy John surgery and a late season shoulder issue limited Jose Fernandez to only 11 starts and 64 2/3 innings last year. They were 11 awesome starts (2.92 ERA), but still, it was only 11 starts. This season Fernandez has stayed on the field and thrown 182 1/3 innings of 2.86 ERA ball for the Marlins. He's fanned a ridiculous 253 batters.
Following a breakout 2014 season, things go so bad for Marcell Ozuna in 2015 that he was demoted to the minors at midseason. He hit .259/.308/.383 overall with only 10 home runs last year. This season Ozuna returned with a vengeance to hit .268/.323/.463 with 23 homers and strong outfield defense. That earned him a spot on the NL All-Star team.
Wilson Ramos was finally able to stay healthy last season, though the result was a weak .229/.258/.358 batting line with 15 home runs. That's bad even by catcher standards. Ramos was rebounded this year to hit .303/.352/.491 with a career high 21 home runs. Like Saunders, Ramos is having a career year right before hitting free agency. He's going to get some MVP votes.
Last season Anthony Rendon's injuries and complete lack of power -- he hit .264/.344/.363 in 80 games -- were among the primary reasons the Nationals were so disappointing. This season Rendon is back to where he was in 2014, when he finished fifth in the NL MVP voting. He's hitting .271/.349/.449 with 18 home runs while playing the heck out of third base.
The Braves haven't had a whole lot of luck keeping their young pitchers healthy the last few years, and last season it looked like Julio Teheran was on the verge of breaking down. He had a 4.04 ERA in 200 2/3 innings and hitters squared him up regularly. This season Teheran had a 3.10 ERA in 177 innings, which is similar to his performance from 2013-14. He's bounced back from a down year very well.
Other Candidates: Rich Hill, Athletics/Dodgers; Wil Myers; Padres, Ichiro Suzuki, Marlins
