“Crystal” Baseball: Who is the 2011 National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP)?

Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun are, I believe, the two top candidates for the 2011 NL MVP, although there are other NL players worthy of consideration.

But, first things first. What is the definition of the MVP? According to Wikipedia, “The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American and National Leagues. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The winner receives the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award, which is named in honor of the first MLB commissioner, who served from 1920 to 1944. MVP voting takes place before the postseason but the results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA began polling three writers in each league city in 1938, reducing that number to two per league city in 1961. The BBWAA does not offer a clear-cut definition of what “most valuable” means, instead leaving the judgement to the individual voters.”

I have broken down the players who had outstanding “glamour statistics” during the 2011 season. These “glamour statistics” include batting average (Ave.) runs batted in (RBI) and home runs (HR). I believe these are the “stats” that the BBWAA gives the most important consideration.

Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers:

Ave: .324 RBI: 126 HR: 39

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers:

Ave: .332 RBI: 111 HR: 33

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

Ave.: .299 RBI: 99 HR: 37

Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies:

Ave: .253 RBI: 116 HR: 33

I think the voting will come down to Kemp and Braun, with Kemp taking home the award. My personal favorite to win the NL MVP is Matt Kemp. Why? He played for a team with a mediocre record (82-79). Nevertheless, Kemp, in addition to the above statistics, was tied for second in the league in stolen bases (40), was first in runs scored (115), and second in the league in hits (195), although he was tied for 21st in the league in doubles (33). I also predicted the Dodgers’ starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw as the 2011 Cy Young Award winner. Kershaw had 21 wins, a 2.28 earned run average, and pitched 233.1 innings.

Braun, along with being among the league leaders in the “glamour” categories, scored 109 runs, and was fifth in the league in hits (187) and tied for third in the NL in doubles (38).

Pujols is having his usual outstanding season, but his numbers don’t quite come up to the level of Braun and Kemp’s numbers.

Howard’s problem is his average.

Wouldn’t it be something if both Kemp won the NL MVP and Kershaw the NL Cy Young for an average Dodger club?

I believe Kemp will take home the 2011 NL MVP, regardless of the Dodgers’ won-loss record, with Braun in close pursuit.

Sources:

MLB.com 2011 major league baseball player statistics:

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#sectionType=sp&playerType=QUALIFIER&statType=hitting&page_type=SortablePlayer&season=2011&season_type=ANY&sportCode=’mlb’&league_code=’NL’&split=&team_id=&active_sw=&game_type=’R’&position=&sortOrder=’desc’&sortColumn=avg&results=&page=1&perPage=50&timeframe=&extended=0&last_x_days=&ts=1316487888062&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+hitting

ESPN.com 2011 Major League Pitching Statistics

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/pitching/_/league/nl/sort/thirdInnings

Final 2011 Major League Baseball Standings:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *