The NL MVP Vote Will Be the Most Exciting Race Down the Stretch

The NL MVP Vote Will Be the Most Exciting Race Down the Stretch

As we wind down the 2013 Major League Baseball season in the National League, there’s one word that comes to mind, and that word is boredom. All playoff spots have pretty much been decided, barring a total collapse or a run from a team that hasn’t shown any capability to do so. There are about 45-50 games left give or take, so what exactly is there to get excited about? The answer is the NL MVP. There isn’t a single player who has played to a level where they’ve locked up the award, but there are two frontrunners and two dark horses who could come away with the hardware.

The two frontrunners for the award are Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Molina, who is second in the league in batting average, was having a career year for the Cardinals before a trip to the disabled list. He isn’t a home run threat or huge run producer, especially in that lineup, but the intangibles are where Molina exceeds over all others. He is without a doubt the best defensive catcher in the league and calls a game like no other behind the plate. He is the heart and soul of a Cardinals team that was tearing through the league until a recent slump has brought them back to Earth. The trip to the disabled list will hurt Molina’s chances some, especially because his numbers are not out of this world and it comes at an inopportune time in the season, but his contributions cannot be discounted.

The one guy who benefits from Molina’s ailments and has catapulted himself into the discussion is Clayton Kershaw. Some may say, how can a guy with 10 wins be the MVP but his numbers are so much more than that. The 10 wins are through no fault of his own, his team cannot score runs for him, but the rest of his numbers are better than last year when he won the pitching Triple Crown and he has solidified himself as the best pitcher on the planet. There is no one even close to him, so all the Matt Harvey and King Felix fans need to take a seat. Kershaw ranks second in innings pitched and strikeouts. He is first in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) with a staggering 6.0 and has an unheard of ERA of 1.91. Only having 10 wins with an ERA under 2 is a clear sign of his offense’s inefficiency. Winning the Cy Young will hurt his chances some in winning MVP but just like Verlander before him, dominating pitching stats when no hitter is dominant can lead to the double prize.

The two dark horses in the race are Russell Martin of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both will most likely not get serious consideration, for different reasons, but at the same time need to be praised for what they are doing. Martin can be considered a candidate for all the same reasons as Molina, but given that Molina is having a better season it pretty much cancels him out. What Martin has going for him is the fact that Pittsburgh is on its way to their first winning season and playoff appearance in 20 years. Martin’s impact on the pitching staff of young guns and thought to be washed up talent cannot be discounted. Neither can his veteran leadership in a clubhouse of guys who don’t know what it’s like to win. Also, Martin has four walk off hits this season, including one this afternoon against the Marlins. Seeing what he’s doing makes this Yankee fan miss him terribly, especially given our catching deficiency. Goldschmidt is having the MVP type season you expect from the winner, with 26 home runs and 90 RBI, ranking him second and first respectively in the league. He is one of the best up and coming power hitters in baseball and will certainly be in the running for the award a few more times in his career but he will be hurt by Arizona not making the playoffs. The voters tend to shy away from guys whose teams do not make the dance, unless their numbers are so earth shattering they have no choice, which Goldschmidt’s numbers aren’t, at least until this point.

My personal take on the whole thing is that Kershaw will walk away with the double hardware, unless Arizona makes a run to overtake the Dodgers. If that were to happen then Goldschmidt absolutely deserves the award. A lot can happen in 50 games, but other than the run by the Dodgers, have we really seen any indication things will be different at the end of the year than they are now? Either way, let’s sit back and enjoy the final leg of the season and how everything unfolds.