Fansided

MLB Awards Watch: Jake Arrieta challenges LA duo for NL Cy Young

By Brad Rowland

Aug 30, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (49) reacts after thawing his final pitch of the ninth inning for a no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Cubs won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 30, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (49) reacts after thawing his final pitch of the ninth inning for a no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Cubs won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 7
Next
Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) during an at bat against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) during an at bat against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

NL MVP

  1. Bryce Harper, OF Washington Nationals – Harper will garner some negative press for taking a shot at his own fans (justifiably, I might add) on Monday, but he’s been the best player in the NL this season, and it isn’t close. Harper trails only Carlos Gonzalez and Nolan Arenado (Coors Field!) in home runs with 34, and his slash line of .336/.468/.646 is borderline comical. Harper is closing in on a 200 wRC+ for the season, and he may be worth 10 WAR by the end of the year. Let’s just agree that this isn’t a close race.
  2. Joey Votto, 1B Cincinnati Reds – Don’t look now, but we have a new number two. Votto trails only Harper in OBP (.460) with the third-best slugging percentage (.562) in the league, and he has back to being one of the best handful of hitters alive. Votto’s walk rate (20.5%) is wildly impressive in that he walks more than he strikes out, and while he isn’t near Harper in fWAR (6.6), that shouldn’t be a knock given that he leads the rest of the field comfortably.
  3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B Arizona Diamondbacks – “Baseball card” voters will like Goldschmidt over Votto and that is okay. Both players have 27 home runs on the season, but Goldschmidt has the slight lead in batting average and a massive edge in stolen bases (21 to 8). However, he hasn’t been quite as good down the stretch, and that has led to Votto building a substantial, 17-point lead in wRC+. We are nitpicking at this point, but penciling in Goldschmidt at number two behind Harper without evaluation would be misguided.

Next: AL MVP

Home/MLB