Quote:
Originally Posted by 100backstroke
Looking at the numbers, I don't quite see how Bellinger is the favorite to win the MVP award. Of course Bellinger has more HR & RBI, but that's simply because he played more games. Bellinger has the higher WAR, however not offensive WAR, its his defensive WAR that pushes him ahead of Yelich. Pretty much any other category Yelich has the advantage. And Yelich quite better in basic batting avg. In fact, he was the league leader. Bellinger had a great start but tapered off, Yelich was good start, got even better. Yes, Bellinger played on the Dodgers who had a really good regular season - a lot of it due to him. But the Brewers also made post season, and without Yelich would not have made it.
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I figure you can look at the entire package (offense and defense) when considering an MVP award. That said, sometimes it helps to be on a team that makes it to the WS because then that dimension is can be added to the selection process.
Why not pitchers? Yeah, a lot of people say that the Cy Young award is the prize for pitchers but when you look at the seasons that Verlander and Cole had, then you'd have to consider them (especially if the Stros make the series and win it all). Look at those WHIPs that each had. Totally mind boggling that two pitchers on the same team had stats like theirs - 300Ks, sub .90 WHIPs, sub 2.60 ERAs and both 20 game winners.