Howie Kendrick Caps Incredible Comeback Story by Earning NLCS MVP Honors
By Adam Weinrib
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Was this a combined award for his services in the NLDS and NLCS? Quite possibly.
But if anyone's earned the hardware after a lifetime of hitting postseason liners, it's Howie Kendrick.
The journeyman infielder has become a household name this postseason (if you watched Clayton Kershaw's latest collapse), and after the final out of the Nats' four-game sweep, Kendrick became the man hoisting the MVP trophy, another symbolic victory for the battler.
Howie Kendrick:
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 16, 2019
➖ Traded to Washington
➖ Ruptured his Achilles in May 2018
➖ Played 121 games in 2019, while hitting .344
➖ Wins NLCS MVP as Nationals go to World Series pic.twitter.com/a5iPmnwwpg
Show of hands: Did you realize Kendrick hit .344 this season?!
At the age of 34, one of the game's good guys ruptured his achilles last May, the type of injury that generally signals a downturn for bats that are preparing to regress anyway.
Not Kendrick; he's been a machine in 2019, and flipped his own narrative once again when he extinguished a series that he'd filled with mental errors and baserunning gaffes with the grand slam of all grand slams.
Jacksonville’s own Howie Kendrick with the grand slam that eliminated the Dodgers ??⚾️ pic.twitter.com/u9mjY3zSLh
— Andrew Gibson (@1010XLAG) October 10, 2019
Since that moment, he's been arguably the best postseason National/Expo...ever.
Howie Kendrick now has 5 hits with RISP this postseason, the most in a single postseason in Nationals/Expos history ? #NLCS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 15, 2019
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/1kljQVZXAa
That's how you spell out M-V-P.
Well-earned, and keep that energy going during the long layoff (and spread a bit of that clutch gene around, if you can).