The Landscape Of The National League MVP Race
We’ve passed the halfway point in the major league baseball season and the races for the individual awards are taking shape. Here’s how TheSportsNotebook sees the race for the National League MVP…
We’ve passed the halfway point in the major league baseball season and the races for the individual awards are taking shape. Here’s how TheSportsNotebook sees the race for the National League MVP…
TheSportsNotebook posted its selections for the final National League All-Star team on Friday. With the playoff picture all set in the National League, our MLB coverage will now close out the regular season in the senior circuit, with picks for the major individual awards.
The American League MVP race might have a clear frontrunner in Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, but the National League MVP battle is wide open.
We’re wrapping up the baseball regular season here at TheSportsNotebook, and in this post we’ll focus on the National League MVP vote and other major individual awards. After picking a National League All-Star team yesterday, we’ll now narrow it down to the four players I think need to be in the MVP conversation—Buster Posey for San Francisco, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen and the dark horse contender would be Chase Headley in San Diego.
Andrew McCutchen has been seen as the runaway leader for the National League MVP, although the Pirates’ struggle to hold on the playoff race make take its toll in the final voting for their centerfielder. What McCutchen does have going for him is that there aren’t clear-cut candidates from other contenders. With that as the landscape, let’s size up the race for National League MVP as the regular season has exactly four weeks left.
TheSportsNotebook’s midseason MVP voting continues today, with a look at the National League. As I explained in yesterday’s preface to the American League Top 10, there are two areas that conventional voters weight much more heavily than I do. I could care less if someone is on a contender, though I will at least give consideration to whether they helped their team achieve a significant goal (which could be a winning season for a long-suffering franchise as much as it could a playoff berth for a consistent one). And I have no bias against pitchers, given how big their impact is on the games they start. With that said, here’s how the Top 10 in the National League MVP race breaks down at TheSportsNotebook…