Dodgers Cody Bellinger; Angels Mike Trout Pulling Away in MVP Race
Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder (and sometimes first baseman) Cody Bellinger is getting closer. Indeed, we are talking about him winning his first NL Most Valuable Player Award in 2019. Recently, we posed the question asking if Bellinger had lost his firm grasp of the 2019 MVP.
While answers varied – one thing seemed certain – Bellinger would need to finish to win this award. Obviously, Christian Yelich has done his part in being a good running-mate for Bellinger this season; and even somewhat closing the gap.
Trout, Bellinger have huge leads in MVP polls
Sent with @MLB At Bat https://t.co/sIwk2qq7e5— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) August 20, 2019
However, Richard Justice of MLB.com says the notion of Bellinger slipping is not the case. At least according to a recent poll conducted by 32 various writers on baseball’s mainstream site. Furthermore, Bellinger has pulled 29 of those 32 votes in a recent poll.
Trout got all 32 first-place votes in the AL, while Bellinger got 29 of 32 NL first-place votes, with Yelich, the defending NL MVP, getting the other three. Alex Bregman of the Astros and Rafael Devers of the Red Sox finished second and third, respectively, in the AL, while Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. got third place in the NL.
Equally important, here is the snippet from MLB.com for the Bellinger case:
1. Cody Bellinger (29 first-place votes): His 100th career home run on Aug. 2 made him the fastest Dodger to 100 home runs. He did it in 401 games, breaking the record of 422 by Mike Piazza. In the last 10 seasons, only Joey Gallo (377) and Giancarlo Stanton (400) have needed fewer games to reach 100.
Therefore – if you’re like me and facing some anxiety over Bellinger winning this award – don’t. It’s likely that if he can avoid a collapse week or two, he’s going to finish with enough in his favor to take home the hardware when the weather gets cold.
That is, if you take stock in what those paid to write about the game on MLB.com believe.
