Pittsburgh Pirates: Best Individual Seasons That Didn't Win Awards
There are plenty of times a player had a great season, but was not awarded with hardware. Here are three times a Pittsburgh Pirate had a phenomenal season but didn't earn an award.
There have been plenty of great seasons in Pittsburgh Pirates history. From Andrew McCutchen’s MVP 2013, Doug Drabek’s Cy Young winning 1990 season, and Barry Bonds winning two MVPs in the early 90s, there are plenty of times that a Pirates player has taken home hardware for their accomplishments. But there are plenty of other seasons where a Pirate didn’t get any awards, despite a great performance.
I want to take a look back through the Pirate history and examine some of the best seasons to never win any awards. This includes anything from Gold Gloves, Silver Slugger Awards, to MVPs and Cy Young trophies. So with that being said, let’s look at our first season.
2005 Jack Wilson
If you thought Ke’Bryan Hayes not winning the Gold Glove in 2022 was highway robbery, then Jack Wilson missing out on the award in 2005 was even worse. While advanced defensive statistics weren’t as available or popular as they are now, there was no doubt the 2005 Gold Glove deserved to go to Wilson.
As a shortstop, Wilson had +32 Defensive Runs Saved. That is the third most by a shortstop in a single season since the statistic was created. Not only did he have a historic year in terms of DRS, but he also had a strong +13.1 UZR/150. Even more traditional metrics like total zone runs (+17), range factor per nine innings (+5.09), and range factor per game (+4.9) loved him.
The winner of that year’s shortstop Gold Glove was Omar Vizquel. By this point in Vizquel’s career, he was an established Major Leaguer in 2005 with it being his 18th season. By no means was Vizquel bad with the glove as he had +1 DRS, a +6.5 UZR/150, and +7 total zone runs, but they are dwarfed by what Jack Wilson did.
Wilson is arguably the best defensive infielder to never win a Gold Glove. He has over 100 career defensive runs saved, and a dWAR better than the likes of Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, and Johnny Bench. 2005 is still historically one of the best defensive seasons from a shortstop in the modern era of baseball, and yet he didn’t take home any accolades for it.
2014 Russell Martin
Russell Martin’s 2014 season might be one of the most underappreciated seasons in the franchise’s history. Martin’s second season in Black And Gold was outstanding. He provided superb offense to go with top of the line defense. But despite a career year from the veteran backstop, Martin didn’t even receive a call to the Mid-Summer Classic.
During the 2014 season, Martin posted an outstanding .290/.402/.430 slash line. His 12.8% walk rate was the second-best of his career at the time, and he also had a solid 17% strikeout rate. Martin’s OBP over .400 was elite, and one of the best marks ever for a backstop. Only 35 catchers have put up an OBP over .400 in 400+ PAs. Martin’s OBP is tied with Carlton Fisk in 1977, Joe Robinson in 1949, and Joe Mauer in 2010. He wasn’t a super-powerful hitter, but he had 11 home runs in 460 plate appearances and his .140 isolated slugging percentage was slightly better than the league average. Overall, he had a .370 wOBA and 140 wRC+.
But Martin’s season happened right when Buster Posey had another outstanding season. Posey batted .311/.364/.490 with a .371 wOBA, and 142 wRC+. Both Martin and Posey had almost identical marks in wOBA and wRC+. Martin had the higher on-base percentage and Posey was better for power. He hit 22 home runs with a .179 isolated slugging percentage. You could have made the argument either way, but it was one of the better offensive seasons not to get the award.
Defensively, Martin turned in yet another outstanding year. He racked up +21 defensive runs saved with +11.6 framing runs. Again, like with his hitting, while he was outstanding as a defender, he was eclipsed by other career years. Jonathan Lucroy led the National League in defensive runs saved and Posey had +19.2 framing runs. Though none of Martin, Lucory or Posey would take the award home, as Yadier Molina captured the National League catcher Gold Glove with +8 defensive runs saved and +4.6 framing runs.
Overall, Martin’s 2014 is the best season from a Pirate catcher in the franchise’s history. Since integration in 1947, Martin’s wRC+ of 140 is the best among any Pirate backstop in at least 300 plate appearances. His wOBA ranked 6th while his OPS was only 10th, but combined with his defense, no Bucco catcher ever posted a higher single-season fWAR than Martin did in 2014.
1971 Willie Stargell
Willie Stargell is one of, if not the best hitter in the franchise’s history. Stargell took home just one MVP award in his storied career, and it wasn’t even close to the best season of his career. If you had to choose a season in which Stargell was at his peak, it would be 1971.
During that year, the left fielder batted .295/.398/.628 with a .445 wOBA, and 186 wRC+. Stargell’s 25.4% strikeout rate was terrible for the time, but he drew walks at a 13.7% rate. Stargell is of course known for his massive power, and he hit a career-best 48 home runs this season. His .333 isolated slugging percentage was the second-best of his long career. Stargell was never known for his defensive prowess, but he held his own in left field this season, owing +3 total zone runs and about average remarks for range factor per-9 innings and range factor per game.
Stargell lost to Joe Torre during MVP voting this season. Torre was a good hitter who batted .338/.421/.555 with 24 home runs. Though in terms of a rate basis, Stargell was the better hitter. Torre had a lower OPS, a wOBA of .429, and wRC+ of 173. His numbers at the dish were good but not as good as Stargell's. Not to mention Torre had terrible numbers at third base with -25 total zone runs, and below average range factor. If it were modern times, Torre likely would have finished behind Stargell.
Still, Stargell’s 1971 season is one of the best in Pirates’ history. It ranks second in wRC+, fifth in wOBA, eighth in OPS, third in home run total, and fourth in fWAR at +8.2. This was before an era of silver sluggers, and he certainly would have won the award had it existed at the time. But it’s one of the best seasons in baseball history to not take the MVP.
2002 Brian Giles
Brian Giles in the early 2000s is one of the most underrated stretches in baseball. From 1999 through 2003, Giles batted .306/.426/.604 with a .403 wOBA, and 158 wRC+. However, in 2002, Giles had the best season of his career but didn’t even finish top 10 in MVP voting.
During the 2002 season, Giles was a .298/.450/.662 batter. The outfielder slugged 38 home runs with an isolated slugging percentage of .324. Giles struck out at a rate of just 11.5% while drawing walks in 21% of his plate appearances. He even provided some base running value, coming in with +1.5 baserunning runs above average and swiping 15 bases. Overall, he had a 1.072 OPS, .444 wOBA, and 174 wRC+.
Defensively, well Giles certainly wasn’t good. He was worth -14 total zone runs while having a below-average range factor. But he still came out with an fWAR of +6.9. Sure, it might not have been the greatest season ever, but to not win a Silver Slugger, finish in the top 10 in MVP voting, or even make the aAll-Star Game is insane.
Giles was by far the second-best hitter in the National League. Among qualified batters, Giles was surpassed by just Barry Bonds in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+. Granted, Bonds was playing in another plane of existence in the early-2000s, but Giles had a large lead in these three stats. Sammy Sosa’s wRC+ clocked in at third at just 157. He also had a 49-point lead in OPS and an 11-point lead in wOBA over Larry Walker.