With the MVP Award set to be given out tonight by Major League Baseball, today is a great time to hand out my KC Royals Player of the Year Award.

The Royals Minor League Player of the Year was a no-brainer, as the outfielder has been racking up all kinds of awards. I’ll get to him later on in my awards coverage.

At the big league level, the Player of the Year was a tougher choice. I had it down to an outfielder and a DH.

I decided to go with the DH, Billy Butler. It seemed appropriate considering he was the lone Royals representative at the All-Star Game and that he should garner some votes tonight for the American League MVP.

Butler put up offensive numbers similar to every other season he has been in the big leagues. However, in 2012, the power finally broke out.

He hit .313, which was tied for sixth in the AL. He played in 161 games and scored 72 runs. Butler hit 29 homeruns and drove in 107, both were career highs. His RBI total was sixth in the AL. He also hit 32 doubles, had an on-base percentage of .373, and a slugging percentage of .510.

Those numbers finally made him an All-Star, as he represented the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Unfortunately, he wasn’t asked to participate in the HR Derby and the hometown fans were not thrilled about that.

Butler even got a chance to play more first base, and not just during Interleague Play. With the struggles (and then injury) of Eric Hosmer, Butler played twenty games at first base (he did make three errors).

The Kansas City BBWAA also honored Butler as their Player of the Year. But really, all he wants is to play on a winning team.

» Continue reading “RBA End of Season Awards: Player of the Year”

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America named KC Royals reliever/closer Greg Holland as their Pitcher of the Year.

Despite pitching terrible over his first seven appearances out of the bullpen (opponents hit .406 against him) and then heading to the DL, Holland turned his season around once he returned.

After his return form the DL (where he worked on his mechanics and healed his ribs), Holland posted a 7-2 record with a 2.08 ERA. He picked up 16 saves in 60 games and opponents hit just .208 against him. Over 67 innings, he struck out 91. He struck out at least one in 14 of his final 15 appearances.

Those numbers allowed the Royals to trade then-closer Jonathan Broxton to Cincinnati and give the closer’s job to Holland. Those numbers also lowered his early season ERA of 11.37 to a respectable 2.96 at the end of the season.

On Wednesday, DH Billy Butler was named the Royals Player of the Year by the same writers. It is his third such honor (2009-2010).

Butler set career highs in 2012 in homeruns (29) and RBIs (107). Fourteen of his homeruns either tied the game or gave the Royals the lead. He also was named to his first All-Star team.

His .313 batting average was tied for sixth in the American League. He also hit 32 doubles.

Butler was the AL’s most used DH, though he did start 20 games at first base. He is the leading candidate for the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.

Dick Kaegal lists some of Butler’s top moments from the 2012 season, including his blast against St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Motte on June 17th at Busch Stadium. With the Royals one strike away from another loss, Butler hit a homerun to tie the game at 2-2. The Royals went on to win in 15 innings.

Do you think the KCBBWAA made the right picks?