The season might have concluded for the Chicago Cubs, but the awards have kept on coming. Starting pitcher Yu Darvish was named a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award, an award annually given to the best pitcher in each league, manager David Ross was named a finalist for NL Manager of the Year, and Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez each won a Gold Glove, as was announced at the beginning of this week.
Each had a story of overcoming the odds to have a successful season in 2020.
Darvish had appeared to have lost his touch over the past several seasons leading up to this one, having posted a 17-23 record and 4.03 from 2017-2019, pitching for three different teams. But during the 60 game regular season, he emerged as the Cubs' ace, with a final record of 8-3, and a 2.01 ERA. It was his lowest ERA since coming to the US from Japan in 2011. His pitching in big games was spectacular, especially down the stretch from July 31-September 4, in which he picked up seven straight wins, and was nearly unhittable with a 0.98 ERA. In addition to Darvish, Cincinnati's Trevor Bauer and the New York Mets' Jacob DeGrom were named finalists the NL Cy Young.
Ross, who went straight from the booth, calling games for ESPN, to the dugout as a first-year manager, handled himself well, and proved that despite having no managerial experience, he knew how to run a ballclub. His easy-going nature meshed well with this year's team, not to mention that he had played alongside several current members of the team, including Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Kris Bryant. Under the watchful eye of Ross, the Cubs finished atop the NL Central standings with a 34-26 record. Better yet, they did not collapse in the final weeks of the season like they did last year, and entered the postseason as the NL's No. 3 seed. The other two finalists for the award are Miami's Don Mattingly and San Diego's Jayce Tingler, also a first-year MLB manager.
In addition, as news of the US Elections captivated the nation, the MLB released its Gold Glove Award winners. The Cubs' talented infield was represented in the awards, as Baez, the starting shortstop, earned a Gold Glove for the first time in his career, and Rizzo, a first baseman, added a fourth Gold Glove to his mile-long list of accolades. Baez was near-perfect at short this season, posting a .968 fielding percentage. Rizzo committed just one error in 463 chances.
The Cubs' defense was top-notch, as second baseman Nico Hoerner, catcher Wilson Contreras, right fielder Jason Heyward and pitchers Alec Mills and Kyle Hendricks were all named finalists for the Gold Glove.
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