MLB: Handicapping the NL MVP Race
With less than two months left in the major league baseball season it is time to start handicapping which players have the best shot at winning the National League MVP Award. Here are my favorites to contend and what chance they have at winning.
Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals – The two-time defending NL MVP is looking to become just the second player in MLB history to win more than three times on top of winning three straight. Only Barry Bonds have ever won more than 3 MVPs and won more than two years in a row. Even though this has been a down year by Pujols’ standards he is still right in the mix to take home the hardware.
He recently took over the league RBI lead from Ryan Howard and has moved into a tie for second in the league in home runs with Joey Votto. Only Adam Dunn has more home runs. He also ranks second in the league in OBP and OPS and third in slugging.
Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds – Votto was flirting with the Triple Crown for a little while but he has slumped off a bit in August and no longer leads the league in any of the Triple Crown categories. He still ranks second in hitting and home runs and fourth in RBIs. He also leads the league in slugging, OBP, and OPS. He presents the biggest challenger to Pujols’ crown right now and I would not be at all surprised if the National League MVP comes down to the player whose team ends up winning out in the Central this year.
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies – Gonzalez leads the league in hitting and is fourth in RBIs, and sixth in home runs. He also ranks 10th in the league in stolen bases and could come close to posting a 30-30 season this year. The biggest knock on Gonzalez’ candidacy right now is the Rockies are 8 games out in the West and 5.5 behind in the wild card race. The Rockies simply have not gotten back into contention like everyone thought they would. If the Rockies can get back into the playoff race by the end of August then we will hear a lot about Gonzalez as a MVP candidate, otherwise he will finish out of the running.
Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals – Dunn is currently on pace to win his first career home run title and is arguably having the best season of his career. He is on pace to post career bests in doubles, RBIs, base hits, and batting average. In addition to leading the league in long balls he currently ranks second in slugging and third in RBIs and OPS. However with the Nationals 15.5 games out of a playoff spot Dunn is unlikely to get more than some token votes for the MVP Award this season.
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies – Howard was just starting to do what he does best at the plate, which is crank out home runs and drive in runs, prior to going down with an ankle injury. He is eligible to come off the DL next week, but he has yet to even begin running on his injured ankle. Unless he comes back with a monster September, his stint on the disable list could kill any shot he had at winning.
Heath Bell, San Diego Padres – The Padres currently own the best record in the league and with no compelling hitters near the top of the league leaders in the major hitting categories and nobody having a monster year at the plate in general in the N. L. Bell is likely to get some consideration as th4e MVP this year. He has a 1.85 ERA and is currently on pace to save 48 games this year. He may need to get to 50 saves to get serious consideration though.
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