CWL 2008

CWL Special Feature

MORE PREDICTIONS BY THE MITCH

By Mitch Mitchellson
3.19.08

I promised you a few weeks ago that I'd deliver my 2008 individual award winners; well, here they come. And I know my team predictions probably didn't go over well with some, and that's okay, I expected it, and half wanted it, and these predictions probably won't help my reputation any as far as being a well-respected, well-thought-of, kind-hearted columnist. But that's fine with me. I care less about you than you do me. Ta-dow, Homes!

With all seriously, though, I want to take a few moments and bare my inner soul and give you my picks for the 2008 award winners. The players that on a purely individual basis shine above everyone else within the ranks of the CWL. Guys that carry their teams to the pinnacle of success. Guys that can take a team and carry them for weeks on their backs and their backs alone. Guys that can, as Rocky Balboa's trainer, Mickey, once said, "eat lightning and crap thunder." I'm not really sure what that means but I thought it sounded cool when used in this context.

I guess I'll start with my least favorite CWL award, the Silver Slugger award. And this season we'll finally see a changing of the guard, so to speak, because Brandan Cofer is out. As most of you know, Cofer's won the award every season since the CWL started, making him a three-time winner. This season, however, we'll see someone new crowned "the league's top hitter."

And there's really only one guy I see being named this season's Silver Slugger, that guy being one Matt Catlett. You could make a case for Cartwright, or maybe even Kugler, but both those guys have questions, and yes, so does Matt Catlett, but those question don't seem to loom as heavily over him as the others. And we're talking strictly hitting here, nothing else, and Catlett can still hit, bad knee or not. Guys like McMahan, Cox, and Gibson, though, will give him a run for his money. And I don't even know anything about Gibson, but my gut tells me to mention his name whether I really believe he has a shot or not, which I don't.

Kelly Cox, who some felt was last year's top defensive player, gets my nod as this season's Defensive Player of the Year. Check the vids, kids, Cox can straight up throw hands when it comes to fielding. The boy can play D and play it well, not to mention his knack for making the highlight-type, game-saving, bail-your-pitcher-out plays. Kugler and Stafford will get a few votes, especially since Cartwright will be limited in playing defense for much of the season.

Rookie of the Year is probably the toughest call to make because I don't really know anything about any of the rookies making their ways into the CWL this season, and neither does my number one source, the Co-Mish. But I have heard good things about Danny Howard from my Mexican pal Hector Ortega Gomez Rodriguez Domingo Tortilla down in Dalton. Tortilla claims this dude can ball, don't know how he knows but he knows, so I guess, by default, Howard is this season's top rookie. Although I believe it will be a close battle between he and J.D. Cannon, who I hear has some potential, not to mention the commitment to work to get better each and every week.

And now we're getting down to the cream of the crop of individual awards, my two faves, the biggies, if you will. There's a ton of players in the C-DUB this season that could very well win the Cy Young award, but there's just as many that don't stand a snowball's chance in Hades of winning. They have as much of a chance of winning as Lindsay Lohan does staying sober and respectable, which ain't much.

There is, at least I think, a plethora of pitching talent this year in the CWL, but there's also a ton of rookies that will undoubtedly be hit-or-miss when it comes to pitching. Yes, there may very well be some rookie arms out that will rise up and take the league by storm, but I doubt it. So I'll stick with the proven players to win this season's Cy Young award.

And I just can't help but go with my gut here and say that Mike McDowell will continue what he started in 2007 and dominate the CWL this season from the mound. Of course, he won't be able to throw as hard as last season, which was really the only reason his first two career starts resulted in shutouts, (Yeah, I called you out on it, pal. So what?) but he has good stuff, speed or not, and can easily win this year's award. Plus, he's got a good team behind him, a team that can score runs and give him a comfort zone to pitch within. Teammates Stafford and McMahan may get a few votes, so will Jake Catlett and Patrick Lowery, but McDowell is the man to beat in '08. Mark it down and don't forget it, I'll be reminding you all about it when the awards are announced.

And lastly, the MVP award, the big daddy of 'em all. The award that really signifies how good you truly are and how well you've performed in every facet of the game. Have you hit well, pitched well, and played good defense? Have you been the consistent rock of your club? Is your team where they're at because of you and the way you've performed all season? That's what an MVP exemplifies, someone that can do it all, do it well, and lead a team to the Promised Land while doing it. I don't care if you have great numbers on a losing club, you're dead to me. I want a player that puts up the numbers, but does in a way that wins games.

And with the departure of Brandan Cofer, the guy who's won the past two MVP awards, there's one name that keeps haunting me in my sleep. One name, that no matter how much I try to deny it, keeps nagging at me, pleading with me to pick him as this season's top player, and that player is.....Jake Catlett. I know, I know, it's a bold move considering how Catlett always starts hot and then flakes as the season progresses, but I have to stick with my guns here and make the call no one else has the bollocks to make. I just like Catlett's chances this season. He'll be right there as a Cy Young candidate, plus he always puts up solid hitting numbers, and he'll be on a good team, not a great team, nor a title-winning team, but a good enough team to deserve a possible MVP winner. I believe that across the board, Catlett will have the numbers to garner an MVP trophy this season. I also believe he'll be more dedicated to the game, in better shape, and sport a better attitude, that will justify his qualifications of winning the award.

Of course, there will be others that give Catlett a go for the crown, namely McDowell, the other Catlett, Stafford, Lowery, Walsh, and Cox, but Catlett is the man to beat. Say what you will about this kid, it doesn't matter, he can flat-out play the game, at least when he wants to, and he'll be rewarded this season for his extra effort and semi-hard work.

That's it. It was fun, as always, but it's time for "The Mitch" to bail and find something more worthy of my talents. There's only so much I can take of writing about grown men playing with plastic bats and balls before I'm ready to hang myself with my shoelaces. Until next time....don't hate, appreciate.