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MLB awards watch: National League MVP race

By William Schneiderhan

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) hits a single during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals on April 14, 2019, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) hits a single during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals on April 14, 2019, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – APRIL 20: Christian Yelich #22 of the Milwaukee Brewers rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park on April 20, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – APRIL 20: Christian Yelich #22 of the Milwaukee Brewers rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park on April 20, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

2. Christian Yelich, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

.326 BA, 13 HR (1st), 31 RBI (1st), 1.231 OPS (2nd) and 2.0 WAR (2nd).

Derek Jeter and his ownership group took over the Miami Marlins during the 2018 offseason. This led to a fire-sale, in which Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna were sent packing. But the Marlins got little-to-nothing in return for all three players, and Yelich went on to become the NL MVP with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Yelich had an incredible second half last season. In total, he hit 36 homers, drove in 110, hit .326 and had on OPS of 1.000. This season, the reigning Most Valuable Player has picked up where he left off.

However, one of the reasons Yelich isn’t No. 1 on this list is due to his home and away splits. At home, he has done all of his damage outside of two RBIs. He is hitting .227 and slugging .273 in the road with no homers.

Yelich’s home and road numbers are odd, and there really isn’t an explanation for it. At home, he is the slugger who took the form of Barry Bonds during last season’s second half. On the road, he is the gap-to-gap, lighter hitter we saw while he was a Marlin.

Although, with something as fluky as this, he can’t be held out of the MVP running due to tough home-road splits. He still has great numbers and he has been productive. He is also posting the fourth-highest hard-contact percentage in the NL, at 58.1 percent. His average-exit velocity of 95 mph is top-10 in all of baseball as well.

Yelich is still ripping the ball and hitting it hard. It’s just a matter of getting himself going on the road.

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