27-year old righty swinging CF Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers finished 2nd in the voting for the 2011 N.L. MVP Award behind Ryan Braun. Braun essentially won the award because he played on a better team than Kemp. Kemp played in 161 games for the Dodgers last year and he was 195 of 602 (.324 avg, .986 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 39 homers, 126 RBIs and 40 stolen bases. He has now played in 787 games in his first six years with the Dodgers and he is 840 of 2,862 (.294 avg, .846 OPS) with 464 runs scored, 128 homers, 457 RBIs and 144 stolen bases. Kemp got robbed as he should have been the MVP as he put up all of his numbers without much help in the batting order.

23-year old lefty starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw has been named the 2011 National League Cy Young Award winner. Kershaw pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Dodgers last year and he was 21-5 with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He only gave up 174 hits while whiffing 248 batters in his 233 1/3 innings pitched last year and those are impressive numbers. But, he took the next step by improving his control as he only walked 54 batters in 2011. Kershaw has now pitched in 118 games (116 starts) in his first four years with the Dodgers and he is 47-28 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. As long as Kershaw keeps attacking the strike zone with his outstanding stuff, the sky is the limit for him. I could easily see him winning more Cy Young Awards in the future as he is plain nasty on the mound.

UPDATE: (11/23/2011) - Clayton Kershaw finished 12th in the N.L. MVP voting yesterday.

50-year old rookie manager Don Mattingly finished tied for 8th in the voting for the N.L. Manager of the Year Award with Terry Collins of the Mets. Mattingly led the Dodgers to a 82-79 (50.9%) record in his first year in charge. Mattingly looked overmatched early last year but he learned from his mistakes and he got his team to excel late in the year. I look for Mattingly to keep improving as a manager as he no doubt will be working hard to improve his craft.

24-year old righty reliever Kanley Jansen has finished tied for 7th place (with Cubs’ 2B Darwin Barney) in the voting for the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting. Jansen pitched in 51 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers last year and he was 2-1 with 5 saves, a 2.85 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has now pitched in 76 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Dodgers and he is 3-1 with 9 saves, a 2.12 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Jansen has only given up 42 hits while whiffing 137 batters in his first 80 2/3 innings in the majors and those are eye popping numbers. He has walked 41 batters so far in his career, so he needs to tighten up his control……but time is on his side.

28-year old lefty swinging outfielder Andre Ethier and 26-year old closer Jonathan Broxton will be representing the Dodgers in the All-Star Game. Ethier was voted in by the fans so he will be in the starting lineup. Ethier has played in 63 games for the Dodgers this season and he is 79 of 247 (.320 avg, .933 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 13 homers and 49 RBIs. This will be Ethier’s first All-Star Game. Big Jonathan Broxton has pitched in 36 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers this season and he is 3-0 with 17 saves, a 2.02 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has whiffed 52 batters while only walking 7 in 35 2/3 innings which shows that you better be ready to swing the bat when he comes into the game. This will be Broxton’s 2nd All-Star Game.