Bellinger, Roberts, Kershaw up for NL Awards

LOS ANGELES -- Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw and Dave Roberts on Monday were named finalists for annual year-end awards to be presented next week by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Bellinger is a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, Kershaw, already a three-time winner, is again a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award. Roberts, who was named NL Manager of the Year in 2016, is again a finalist for that honor.
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The other finalists for NL Rookie of the Year are Josh Bell of the Pirates and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals, and the winner will be announced on Monday, Nov. 13. The other finalists for NL Manager of the Year are Torey Lovullo of Arizona and Bud Black of Colorado and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The other finalists for the NL Cy Young Award are Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

The awards are voted on by beat writers at the end of the regular season. Postseason play is not a consideration.
Kershaw finished 18-4 with a 2.31 ERA, a 6.73 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .246 opponents on-base percentage. He logged at least 200 strikeouts for the seventh time, a franchise record. But he also missed five weeks with a back injury for the second consecutive season. Kershaw earned his seventh All-Star selection in 2017. Kershaw won the NL Cy Young Award in 2011, '13 and '14, when he also won the MVP Award. He joins Greg Maddux as the only pitchers with top-five Cy Young finishes in seven consecutive seasons. Dodgers pitchers have won the award 12 times.

Bellinger opened the season in the Minors and was promoted only because of injuries to Andre Ethier and Joc Pederson. A season-ending injury to Andrew Toles created even more opportunity for Bellinger, who exploded on the scene to earn an All-Star berth and set a league record for a rookie with 39 home runs. Bellinger notched the third cycle in Dodgers history and set Los Angeles rookie records with a .581 slugging percentage and .933 OPS, while the club went 91-41 in games Bellinger appeared in. Dodgers have won Rookie of the Year Awards 17 times, including Corey Seager last year.

Roberts, who earned NL Manager of the Year honors in his rookie season of 2016, could repeat after leading the Dodgers to the best record in baseball (104-58) a Los Angeles record for wins and tying for the second-most in franchise history (one shy of the record). The Dodgers also reeled off a 43-7 stretch, the best 50-game period in franchise history and best in MLB since the 1912 New York Giants. Roberts joined Tommy Lasorda and Joe Torre as the only managers in franchise history to take their teams to the postseason in their first two years with the club. Dodgers have won the award three times since 1983.