MLB Awards Watch: Mike Trout is still incredible

player. 71. <p>To the surprise of no one, Kershaw remains in the spot. He has been the best pitcher in baseball this season by a comfortable margin, and the numbers back up that claim with ease. Kershaw holds a lights-out 1.79 ERA to go along with a 1.65 FIP, and the left-hander is striking out 10.79 batters per 9 innings while issuing less than one walk (0.67) per 9. Those numbers are of the video game variety, and Kershaw has already exceeded 5 WAR before the calendar flips to July. That is just ridiculous.</p>. SP. Los Angeles Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw. 1

SP. San Francisco Giants. Madison Bumgarner. 2. player. 31. <p>This could very well be Bumgarner’s teammate, Johnny Cueto, who has been fantastic in his own right. Still, Bumgarner is clearly an elite option, as he trails only Kershaw with a blistering 1.99 ERA across 108.1 innings and 16 starts this season. Some of the advanced metrics (3.01 FIP) don’t love what Bumgarner has put together this season, but he is striking out 10.14 batters per 9 innings with only 2.41 walks over that same period, and that is impressive. Bumgarner might be the best left-hander on earth… if it wasn’t for Kershaw.</p>

player. 82. <p>Kershaw leads MLB in strikeouts (not a shock), but it is Jose Fernandez who sets the pace in strikeouts per 9 innings. The uber-talented right-hander is whiffing opposing batters at a rate of 13.12 (!) per 9 this season, and that has allowed Fernandez to post a 2.28 ERA and a 1.97 FIP across 15 starts. He gets a deduction based on the lack of innings (94.2) compared to the top two here, but Fernandez is impossible to hit when he has his full arsenal and we have seen that on display in 2016.</p>. SP. Miami Marlins. Jose Fernandez. 3