Saturday, August 15, 2009

The National League MVP Race

By Eric Engberg

Also see: The American League MVP Race

Top Contenders

Here is a list of contenders for the award.

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals — The Cardinals first baseman has terrorized the league's pitchers for the entire season and currently leads the league in home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs, and OPS. He is also third in the league in hitting, is top 10 in hits and doubles, is hitting .383 with runners in scoring position, and is 8-for-11 with 5 grand slams and 27 RBIs with the bases loaded this season. Pujols has been able to post these numbers with little to no support around him in the lineup the first half of the season.

Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins — If not for Pujols being a legitimate Triple Crown contender this season, Ramirez would be the odds-on favorite to garner his first MVP award this season. The Florida shortstop leads the league with a .351 average and is on pace to drive in 115 runs and steal 32 bases for a Marlins team that is still in the wild card hunt. Ramirez is hitting .418 with runners in scoring position, .455 with runners in scoring position and two outs, and has collected 3 grand slams of his own. There really are not any compelling arguments against him other than Pujols' numbers are that much better than Hanley's.

Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers — Prince is becoming the king of Milwaukee and is in the midst of arguably his best season in the majors. Fielder is the only other player in baseball to reach 100 RBIs, is fifth in home runs, and fourth in slugging and on-base percentage. Fielder is on pace to hit 40 homers and drive in 144 runs, which would be a career-high for the young first baseman.

Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants — Sandoval's candidacy is much like Miguel Cabrera's in the American League in that he is the only real offensive threat Giants team that remains in playoff contention. Sandoval is currently second in the league in hitting (.329) and is on pace to hit 25 homers and drive in 98 runs. The Kung Fu Panda is also tied for third in doubles, and is in the top 10 in the league in hits and slugging percentage.

Darkhorses

Players who are hot now and could sneak into contention if they keep the momentum going.

Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks — The Arizona third bagger is currently nipping at Pujols' heels for the home run lead with 36 bombs and is hitting .284 with 80 RBIs. Reynolds had been flying under the radar screen until recently, but with 12 home runs and a .371 batting average since the break he is starting to get noticed around the league. The only problem is the D-Backs have little to no chance at the postseason and one has to ask themselves if a guy who is on pace to whiff 220 times is really the MVP?

Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers — Ethier is hitting .352 with 20 runs driven in since the break and has come up with several clutch hits to win ball games for the Dodgers and is currently ninth in the league in homers and RBIs. He is a big reason the Dodgers stayed in first place when Manny Ramirez was serving his 50-game suspension but, in the end, the numbers are not going to be there for him.

Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies — The burly slugger is currently fourth in RBIs (82) and seventh in home runs (26) and while he currently does not have the numbers, he is always a threat to go on a tear and have a 10 home run, 30 RBI month.

Maybe Next Year

Here is the best of the rest who would warrant consideration if their teams were better or they were in different circumstances.

Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies — Ibanez started the season white-hot and would probably be getting serious consideration had he not gotten hurt and missed over three weeks of the season. He currently ranks fifth in homers (27), eighth in RBIs (78), and second in slugging (.606). Had he not gotten hurt he would probably be third in the league in homers and RBIs.

Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals — Dunn is hitting a career-high .281 and is on pace to hit 43 homers and drive in a career-high 121 runs. He is in the midst of his best offensive career, but is largely overlooked because he plays in DC for the worst team in baseball.

Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals — Zimmerman has already matched his career best in home runs with 24, is hitting a career-best .305 and is on pace to drive in 109 runs. Like Dunn, one does not hear a lot about him because he plays for the lowly Nats.

With Pujols being a legitimate Triple Crown threat for the Cardinals, it is almost a foregone conclusion that he is going to be the National League's MVP, barring a major catastrophe that costs him significant time down the stretch. Ramirez would need to add another 20 to 30 points on to his batting average or someone like Fielder or Howard would have to go on a monster tear and end up with 55 homers and 150 RBIs to give Pujols a run for his money.

This story was re-published with permission from PopPickle.