The 2017 MLB trade deadline has come and gone. We’re in the final third of the regular season. Here are baseball’s MVP contenders through the end of July.
Things are starting to really heat up in the MLB. The trade deadline came and went. It’s time to turn out attention into the home stretch. From August on, this is when your favorite club can make or break its season.
A great August helps a club contend for wild card berths, division championships and postseason positioning. Should a team struggle, we’ll get excited for the September call-ups once rosters expand.
Before we go full-bore into August, let’s take a look back on the best players in the sport today and recognize who would be MLB MVP finalists if the season were to end today. Here are the five best players in both leagues and what they’ve done so far.
Fifth Place
American League
The Kansas City Royals have found themselves in the postseason mix in the AL Central. As of Aug. 2, they sit two games back of the Cleveland Indians in first place and would be the second wild card team if the season came to an end.
A player for the Royals that has come on of late is first baseman Eric Hosmer. Third baseman Mike Moustakas may be in the midst of a power surge, but Hosmer is handling the bat a tad better than his teammate. Hosmer is hitting .323 with 16 home runs and 56 runs batted in. He has a .379 on-base percentage and a .499 on-base percentage. In 108 games, Hosmer has a 2.9 WAR.
National League
The Los Angeles Dodgers are easily the best team in baseball. Though they haven’t even been to a World Series since 1988, maybe this is the year it all clicks for the Boys in Blue? This team is loaded and anything less than an NLCS appearance would be a massive disappoint for this club.
Picking one Dodgers player to be an MVP candidate is tough, but we’ll go with All-Star shortstop Corey Seager. Seager is hitting .300 with 15 home runs and 53 runs batted in. He has a .391 on-base percentage and a .523 slugging percentage. In only 93 games, Seager has an impressive 4.3 WAR.