2012 National League

The National League's biggest winner in 2012 was the Washington Nationals, who took the East division with 98 wins, followed by the Cincinnati Reds, who won the Central with 97 victories.  San Francisco won the West with 94 wins, also the number won by Atlanta in taking the first wild card slot while finishing second in the East.  The Cardinals took the second WC slot with 88 wins and second place in the Central, to edge West second-place team Los Angeles, winners of 86.  At the bottom of the standings, Houston lost 107, the Cubs lost 101, Colorado lost 98 and Miami lost 93.

In the playoffs, the Cardinals took the wild card game, then beat the favored Nationals in the division series.  In the other division series, the Giants came from behind to beat the Reds, then defeated the Cardinals in seven games in the NLCS.  San Francisco then swept the Tigers to win the World Series.

The Brewers were the top scoring team in the league, followed by the Cardinals and then the Rockies.  In OPS+, which adjusts for park, it was the Cardinals first and then the Giants.  The Reds gave up the fewest runs, followed by the Nats, the Dodgers, and the Braves.

Buster Posey led the league with a .336 batting average, followed by Andrew McCutchen at .327 and Ryan Braun at .319.  Joey Votto hit .337, but did not have enough plate appearances to qualify.  Votto had the best on-base percentage, with Posey leading among qualifiers.  Giancarlo Stanton didn't have enough time in to lead in slugging, so Braun was the official leader.

Braun led in runs scored with 108, followed by McCutchen and Justin Upton with 107.  McCutchen led in hits with 194.  Aramis Ramirez led with 50 doubles.  Angel Pagan led with 15 triples.   Braun had 41 homers, Stanton 37.  Chase Headley led with 115 RBI, Braun had 112.  Everth Cabrera led with 44 steals.  Braun edged McCutchen in runs created.

Gio Gonzalez led with 21 wins, R.A. Dickey and his knuckleball posted 20, Johnny Cueto 19.  Clayton Kershaw led the way with a 2.53 ERA, Dickey was at 2.73 and Cueto 2.78.  Dickey edged Kershaw with 230 strikeouts to 229.  Cole Hamels was third with 216.  Dickey led in innings and complete games.  Craig Kimbrel and Jason Motte each posted 42 saves.

Win Shares leaders, players:  Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh) 40, Buster Posey (San Francisco) 38, Chase Headley (San Diego) 32, David Wright (New York) 30, Yadier Molina (St. Louis) 29, Michael Bourn (Atlanta) and Ryan Braun (Milwaukee) 28, Angel Pagan (San Francisco) and Joey Votto (Cincinnati) 27, Melky Cabrera (San Francisco) and Aaron Hill (Arizona) 25, Carlos Ruiz (Philadelphia) 24.  Pitchers:  Aroldis Chapman and Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati) 21, R.A. Dickey (New York) and Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) 19, Cole Hamels (Philadelphia), Craig Kimbrel and Kris Medlen (Atlanta) 18, Gio Gonzalez (Washington) 17, Matt Cain (San Francisco), Yovani Gallardo (Milwaukee), Mat Latos (Cincinnati) and Kyle Lohse (St. Louis) 16.

bWAR (baseball-reference WAR) leaders, players:  Posey 7.3, McCutchen and Wright 7.0, Braun and Molina 6.9, Headley 6.3, Bourn 6.1, Votto 5.9, Jason Heyward (Atlanta) 5.8, Martin Prado (Atlanta), Aramis Ramirez (Milwaukee) and Giancarlo Stanton (Miami) 5.5.  Pitchers:  Kershaw 6.2, Cueto 5.9, Dickey 5.8, Gonzalez 4.9, Jordan Zimmerman (Washington) 4.7, Hamels 4.6, Cliff Lee (Philadelphia) and Medlen 4.5, Latos and Lohse 4.3, Cain 3.9.

fWAR (Fangraphs WAR) leaders, players:  Posey 7.6, Braun 7.5, Wright 7.4, Headley 7.2, McCutchen 6.7, Heyward 6.3, Bourn and Molina 6.1, Ramirez 5.7, Prado, Stanton, and Votto 5.6, Hill 5.4, Ruiz 5.2.  Pitchers:  Kershaw 5.4, Gonzalez 5.1, Lee 4.9, Cueto, Dickey, and Hamels 4.5, Wade Miley (Arizona) 4.4, Adam Wainright (St. Louis) 4.0, Medlen 3.7, Cain 3.6, Josh Johnson (Miami) 3.5, Lohse and Zimmerman 3.4.

Actual BBWAA voting results:

MVP:

1	Buster Posey	SFG	422.0	20.0	94%	7.3	148	530	78	178	24	103	1	69	.336	.408	.549	.957
2	Ryan Braun	MIL	285.0	10.0	64%	6.9	154	598	108	191	41	112	30	63	.319	.391	.595	.987
3	Andrew McCutchen	PIT	245.0	1.0	55%	7.0	157	593	107	194	31	96	20	70	.327	.400	.553	.953
4	Yadier Molina	STL	241.0	1.0	54%	6.9	138	505	65	159	22	76	12	45	.315	.373	.501	.874
5	Chase Headley	SDP	127.0	0.0	28%	6.3	161	604	95	173	31	115	17	86	.286	.376	.498	.875
6	Adam LaRoche	WSN	86.0	0.0	19%	4.1	154	571	76	155	33	100	1	67	.271	.343	.510	.853
6	David Wright	NYM	86.0	0.0	19%	7.0	156	581	91	178	21	93	15	81	.306	.391	.492	.883
8	Craig Kimbrel	ATL	73.0	0.0	16%	3.3	63	0	0	0	0	0	0	0					3	1	1.01	0.654	63	0	42	62.2	27	3	14	116
9	Aramis Ramirez	MIL	47.0	0.0	10%	5.5	149	570	92	171	27	105	9	44	.300	.360	.540	.901
10	Jay Bruce	CIN	46.0	0.0	10%	1.9	155	560	89	141	34	99	9	62	.252	.327	.514	.841
11	Matt Holliday	STL	34.0	0.0	8%	4.0	157	599	95	177	27	102	4	75	.295	.379	.497	.877
12	Aroldis Chapman	CIN	20.0	0.0	4%	3.7	68	0	0	0	0	0	0	0					5	5	1.51	0.809	68	0	38	71.2	35	4	23	122
13	Brandon Phillips	CIN	18.0	0.0	4%	4.0	147	580	86	163	18	77	15	28	.281	.321	.429	.750
14	R.A. Dickey	NYM	16.0	0.0	4%	5.8	34	72	3	11	0	3	0	0	.153	.164	.153	.317	20	6	2.73	1.053	34	33	0	233.2	192	24	54	230
14	Joey Votto	CIN	16.0	0.0	4%	5.9	111	374	59	126	14	56	5	94	.337	.474	.567	1.041

Cy Young:

nk Tm Vote Pts 1st Place Share WAR W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP ERA+
1 R.A. Dickey NYM 209.0 27.0 93% 5.8 20 6 .769 2.73 34 33 1 5 3 0 233.2 192 78 71 24 54 2 230 9 1 4 927 1.053 139
2 Clayton Kershaw LAD 96.0 2.0 43% 6.2 14 9 .609 2.53 33 33 0 2 2 0 227.2 170 70 64 16 63 5 229 5 2 6 901 1.023 150
3 Gio Gonzalez WSN 93.0 1.0 42% 4.9 21 8 .724 2.89 32 32 0 2 1 0 199.1 149 69 64 9 76 3 207 5 1 10 822 1.129 138
4 Johnny Cueto CIN 75.0 1.0 33% 5.9 19 9 .679 2.78 33 33 0 2 0 0 217.0 205 73 67 15 49 5 170 12 3 1 888 1.171 148
5 Craig Kimbrel ATL 41.0 1.0 18% 3.3 3 1 .750 1.01 63 0 56 0 0 42 62.2 27 7 7 3 14 0 116 2 0 5 231 0.654 399
6 Matt Cain SFG 22.0 0.0 10% 3.9 16 5 .762 2.79 32 32 0 2 2 0 219.1 177 73 68 21 51 1 193 9 0 8 876 1.040 126
7 Kyle Lohse STL 6.0 0.0 3% 4.3 16 3 .842 2.86 33 33 0 0 0 0 211.0 192 74 67 19 38 1 143 4 0 1 864 1.090 133
8 Aroldis Chapman CIN 1.0 0.0 0% 3.6 5 5 .500 1.51 68 0 52 0 0 38 71.2 35 13 12 4 23 0 122 4 0 4 276 0.809 274
8 Cole Hamels PHI 1.0 0.0 0% 4.6 17 6 .739 3.05 31 31 0 2 2 0 215.1 190 80 73 24 52 3 216 3 2 3 867 1.124 132

Rookie of the Year:

1	Bryce Harper	WSN	112.0	16.0	70%	5.1	139	533	98	144	22	59	18	56	.270	.340	.477	.817
2	Wade Miley	ARI	105.0	12.0	66%	3.7	32	65	4	11	0	2	0	2	.169	.194	.200	.394	16	11	3.33	1.182	32	29	0	194.2	193	14	37	144
3	Todd Frazier	CIN	45.0	3.0	28%	2.2	128	422	55	115	19	67	3	36	.273	.331	.498	.829
4	Wilin Rosario	COL	12.0	1.0	8%	2.1	117	396	67	107	28	71	4	25	.270	.312	.530	.843
5	Nori Aoki	MIL	11.0	0.0	7%	3.4	151	520	81	150	10	50	30	43	.288	.355	.433	.787
6	Yonder Alonso	SDP	1.0	0.0	1%	1.5	155	549	47	150	9	62	3	62	.273	.348	.393	.741
6	Matt Carpenter	STL	1.0	0.0	1%	1.1	114	296	44	87	6	46	1	34	.294	.365	.463	.828
6	Jordan Pacheco	COL	1.0	0.0	1%	-0.4	132	475	51	147	5	54	7	22	.309	.341	.421	.762

Manager of the Year:

1	Davey Johnson	WSN	131.0	23.0	82%	98	64	.605	162	1.0
2	Dusty Baker	CIN	77.0	5.0	48%	97	65	.599	162	1.0
3	Bruce Bochy	SFG	61.0	4.0	38%	94	68	.580	162	1.0
4	Fredi Gonzalez	ATL	17.0	0.0	11%	94	68	.580	162	2.0
5	Buddy Black	SDP	1.0	0.0	1%	76	86	.469	162	4.0
5	Mike Matheny	STL	1.0	0.0	1%	88	74	.543	162	2.0

Top Manager:  Davey Johnson took the Nationals to the playoffs for the first time in their history.

Top rookie:  Bryce Harper had the best season and has a brilliant future.

Top Pitcher:  The metrics are split, so I go with the writers, especially since the metrics are somewhat biased against knuckleball pitchers like Dickey.  R.A. had a big season and a great book.
1. R.A. Dickey, 2. Clayton Kershaw, 3. Johnny Cueto, 4. Gio Gonzalez, 5. Cole Hamels, 6. Aroldis Chapman.

Top player:  I think the Giants' catcher was definitely the right choice here.
1. Buster Posey, 2. Andrew McCutchen, 3. Ryan Braun, 4. Chase Headley, 5. David Wright, 6. Yadier Molina.