Ryan Tepera was a rather mystifying recipient of a National League MVP vote this year, and it turns out that there was a pretty funny reason for it.
The Chicago Cubs reliever got a tenth-place vote in this year’s race, which ultimately crowned Atlanta Braves slugger Freddie Freeman as the 2020 NL MVP. St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Rick Hummel revealed that he was the one who voted for Tepera. It was an error though, as Hummel had intended to give his vote to Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner, which was next to Tepera’s in a dropdown list. That meant Tepera’s vote was the result of a misclick.
“I meant to hit Trea Turner and thought I had,” said Hummel, per AP. “I should have double-checked it.”
Turner finished in seventh place, nearly 100 points behind the sixth-place finisher, so this was ultimately a case of harmless error. As for Tepera, he posted a 3.91 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 21 total appearances for the Cubs. Tepera is also a six-year MLB veteran who spent another six years in the minor leagues, so perhaps he has earned the unintended honor.
Remarkably though, Tepera was not the only Cubs pitcher to receive a surprise MVP vote this year.
