Top five National League MVP candidates
The 2023 Major League Baseball season is heading into the home stretch. Who will take home the hardware as the National League's Most Valuable Player? Here are the top five contenders in inverse order (Yardbarker's top five NL Cy Young Award candidates are here. YB's top five AL Cy Young candidates are here.)
All stats are through Wednesday.
5. Luis Arráez, Miami Marlins | 2B
KEY STAT: .349 batting average, highest in MLB
Playing in an era in which batting average has been all but devalued makes Arraez that much more impressive. He was batting over .400 as late as June 24, but while his average has tailed off since, he's still the favorite to win the NL batting title. After leading the American League last season with a .316 average for the Minnesota Twins, Arraez looks to join the Yankees' DJ LeMahieu as the only other player in the live-ball era (since 1920) to win the batting title in both leagues. (LeMahieu won the title with the Yankees in 2020 and Colorado in 2016.)
4. Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves | 1B
KEY STAT: 43 home runs, most in National League
Olson is also the only player so far this season to reach 100 RBI (112, to be exact). Baseball-Reference estimates that he's on pace to finish with 53 home runs and 137 RBI, each of which would set live-ball era records for the Braves. Andruw Jones holds Atlanta's season home run record with 51 in 2005, while Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews still holds the season RBI record with 135 in 1953.
3. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers | RF
KEY STAT: 1.021 OPS, highest in National League
Betts is having one of the more well-rounded seasons of any hitter in baseball, batting .316 with 36 home runs and 94 RBIs. Having already won American League MVP with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, Betts is looking to make history this year. To date, Hall of Famer Frank Robinson is the only player in major league history to be voted Most Valuable Player in both leagues (1961 with the Cincinnati Reds and 1966 with the Baltimore Orioles).
2. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers | 1B
KEY STAT: 178 hits, tied for most in MLB
Freeman, who's second in the big leagues in batting average (.338), aims to lead the major leagues in hits for the second straight season. He already has an NL MVP award to his name with the Atlanta Braves (2020). Only five players in major league history have been voted MVP for multiple teams (Bryce Harper, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Jimmie Foxx).
1. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves | RF
KEY STAT: 61 stolen bases, most in MLB
Acuña also leads the major leagues with a .416 on-base percentage and 119 runs. He's tied for the league lead in hits with Freddie Freeman (178) and is third in the majors with a .334 batting average. Acuña is the undisputed star for a Braves team that leads the major leagues with an 87-45 record and is gunning for its second World Series title in the past three seasons. Acuña missed the Braves' 2021 championship run with a torn ACL, but he will undoubtedly be a major contributor to Atlanta's postseason push this year.
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