Giants SS Marco Scutaro Named NLCS MVP

After delivering 14 hits — many of them clutch — and immaculate defense in the NL championship series against the Cardinals, San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Scutaro has been named MVP of the NLCS, said ESPN.

Always formidable but never spectacular, Scutaro took a turn for the amazing this season and post-season. He batted .339 after the All-Star break and .500 with four runs batted in and six runs scored during the NLCS. His 10-game postseason hitting streak ties him for the longest in Giants history.

"It took him a couple days to adjust to us, but he really has been a leader since he got here," pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, who won Games 2 and 6, told ESPN. "He's played great. He's played great defense. He's a true professional. He knows the game. He does all the little things right. Everything you'd lay out on a table for a guy to do, he does."

Scutaro never missed a game after taking a hard, controversial slide from Cardinals OF Matt Holliday during Game 2 of the series. A few innings after the incident, the slight SS heroically singled in two runs that helped the Giants end a three-game postseason slide at home.

Scutaro’s defense was stellar all series, making numerous sliding catches — damaged hip and all — along with a memorable play on a whirling ground ball in Game 7.

The Giants acquired the Venezuelan SS from the Rockies at the trade deadline for a pittance, only squandering a minor leaguer and assuming $2 million of his contract.

While known as a super-sub — solid, but not dominating — during his years with the A’s (2004-2007) and Toronto, Boston, and Colorado after that, Scutaro NLCS performance was powerful enough to catapult the Giants into the World Series. On top of that, he earned a $75,000 bonus for earning MVP honors.