First pitch: 3 things to explain about my National League MVP ballot
By Kevin Henry
As a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), it was my honor this year to cast my ballot for the National League Most Valuable Player. Living north of Denver and as a member of the Colorado BBWAA chapter, I joined Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post in casting ballots as the Colorado representatives.
I know there will be some questions about my ballot, so let me try to tackle what I think could be three of the biggest votes I cast that baseball fans could take issue with now that the voting has been revealed.
Why I selected Ronald Acuña Jr. over Mookie Betts
Sorry Dodgers fans but, in my mind, there wasn't a player who made more of an impact for a National League team than Acuña. His 8.2 bWAR was the best for a Braves team that was the best of all teams in the regular season, Yes, I know that Acuña was slightly behind Betts (8.3) in that category, but I'm also taking offensive bWAR into consideration as well, where Acuña's 8.5 led all NL players and was well ahead of both Freddie Freeman and Betts (each with 7.5).
I also think there is something to be said for the historic season that Acuna put together, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit 40 or more home runs and steal 70 or more bases. Say what you will about MLB's new rules helping Acuña reach that mark, but the outfielder still had to perform at the plate to get on base to steal those bags. It was a display of power and speed like we have never seen in the game before and I believe that deserves the top MVP vote.