Player Awards for the 2012 Cleveland Indians

Last week, 20 Cleveland Indians writers from six different websites and media outlets took part in a survey to reflect on the 2012 season and look ahead to the offseason and beyond. We’ll be releasing the results here on Wahoo’s on First this week, starting today with some 2012 Indians awards.

First up is the Indians’ best hitter:

Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Shin-Soo Choo wins in one of our closest tallies after leading the team with a .373 on-base percentage, a .441 slugging percentage, and a 131 wRC+. He’s followed closely by Michael Brantley, who led the team in batting average (.288); Jason Kipnis, who tied for the team lead in RBI (76); and Carlos Santana, who led the team in home runs (18).

Next, we move on to Cleveland’s best pitcher:

This was the biggest landslide vote, with Pestano taking the honors after racking up 76 strikeouts and notching a 2.57 ERA in 70 innings out of the bullpen. Zach McAllister was the only starting pitcher to get consideration here, while Chris Perez picked up a couple votes for his 39 saves.

What about the Indians’ best fielder?

Jason Kipnis gets the honors in recognition of his sterling .991 fielding percentage, followed by Casey Kotchman, Michael Brantley, and 2011 Best Fielder in Baseball Asdrubal Cabrera. Interestingly, none of the Tribe’s top five rankers in UZR (Vinny Rottino, Aaron Cunningham, Johnny Damon, Cord Phelps, Matt LaPorta) got a vote, and all four vote receivers had negative UZR scores.

Moving on, who were the Tribe’s most surprising and disappointing players, respectively?

Michael Brantley heads the list of breakouts after setting personal bests in almost every important offensive category, while Zach McAllister and Esmil Rogers were the only other players to get multiple votes. On the other side, Justin Masterson barely edges out Ubaldo Jimenez for the team’s biggest disappointment after seeing his ERA shoot up 172 points from 2011.

Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Who is the Indians’ 2012 MVP?

Jason Kipnis wins the title after capturing exactly 50 percent of the vote. Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Santana, and Michael Brantley each got a hat trick of ballots, while Chris Perez got one writer’s support—interestingly, the voter who chose him chose Vinnie Pestano for best pitcher.

So, Tribe fans: How’d we do?

Huge thanks to the writers who participated in this survey: Mike James from the Defend Cleveland Show; Mike Brandyberry, Vince Guerrieri, David Roberts, Kevin Schneider, and Ronnie Tellalian from Did The Tribe Win Last Night?; Charlie Adams, Kevin Dean, and Jim Piascik from Indians Prospect Insider; Nino Colla from The Tribe Daily; Ed Carroll, Brian Heise, Steve Kinsella, Lewie Pollis, and Evan Vogel from Wahoo’s on First; Craig Lyndall and TD from WaitingForNextYear; and Geordy Boveroux, Andy Cooper, and David McGarry.