Trio of Toronto Blue Jays nominated for 2013 GIBBY Awards

Jul 26, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion hits a grand slam home run in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at the Rogers Centre. Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Gregor Chisholm at BlueJays.com shares the news that three Toronto Blue Jays have been nominated for the 2013 GIBBY Awards, which honours Greatness in Baseball Yearly.

Edwin Encarnacion has been nominated in two categories, both Hitter of the Year and Hitting Performance of the Year. He was an elite offensive player in 2013 and despite missing a few games he finished top-six in home runs (3rd), RBIs (6th), OPS (5th) and walks (4th). Perhaps most impressively, he struck out only 62 times all season and narrowly missed being just the ninth player in the past 20 years to hit 40 home runs and strike out less than 70 times (h/t Toronto Star).

Some of the player’s that Edwin will be up against for Hitter of the Year include Mike Trout from the Los Angeles Angels, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees.

Encarnacion also was nominated for his unbelievable seventh inning when he hit two home runs including a grand slam in the same frame against the Houston Astros on July 26. The only other player to accomplish the feat in Blue Jays’ history was Joe Carter on October 3, 1993.

Blue Jays’ third baseman Brett Lawrie also received a nod for Play of the Year category. The chosen play comes from August 22 when he made a spectacular catch and throw after lunging several feet into foul territory to retire Chris Stewart of the Yankees.

Munenori Kawasaki may not be back in Toronto after the Blue Jays decided to decline his team option but his memorable postgame interview (aka I am Japaneseeee!) earned him a Cut4 nomination, which is basically everything awesome in MLB. And when it comes to being awesome there’s not many that can compete with Muni.