St. Louis Cardinals Slugger Paul Goldschmidt He beat out his teammate to be voted National League MVP Nolan Arenado San Diego Padres Third baseman Manny Machado.
Goldschmidt (35), takes home his first MVP honour after leading the NL with slugging (.578), OPS (.981) and compiling his highest OPS+ (180-plus) in his career. This is the sixth consecutive year that Goldschmidt has been in the top six voting for the award in his 12-year-long career.
Goldschmidt, along with Arenado helped the Cardinals win the NL Central division title.
For the season, he hit.317 and had 35 home runs along with 115 RBIs. He was third in the NL for batting average, fifth for home runs, second in RBIs, and fifth for home runs. Goldschmidt’s sabermetric statistics also ranked highly, with him ranking first in WOBA and WRC+ (weighted on base average), third in ISO (isolated potential), and first in WRC+ (+weighted runs created plus). He also placed second among position players in WAR, just behind Arenado.
Goldschmidt was MVP because of his first five months of the year when he hit.332 with an OPS greater than 1.000. He fell a bit in September, hitting just.245 and scoring two runs. He was also 0-for-7 in Cardinals’ wild-card defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies.
After hitting.293 and 30 home runs, Arenado, 31, placed in the top six voting positions for the fifth consecutive time. He won his 10th consecutive Gold Glove award.
Machado, 30 years old, led the Padres’ to a wildcard berth. After hitting 32 home runs and compiling an.898 OPS, Machado was the Padres’ most important player. Fernando Tatis, the star shortstop, was out for the season with an injury. He was then suspended for PED abuse. Machado, 30, was the team’s wild-card runner. Juan Soto Machado, despite being in financial trouble, was San Diego’s main source of offensive production. ESPN stats and information show that Machado accounted for 20% of his team’s home runs. He also recorded the highest percentage of his team’s extra base hits.
Machado is now in the top five for MVP voting. He was also in the top 5 twice with the Associated Press. Baltimore Orioles Now, twice with the Padres.