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Paul Goldschmidt finished third in the National League MVP voting, behind both Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins, and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. Stanton edged Votto by just two points overall, 302-300, both men getting 10 of the available 30 first-place votes. Goldschmidt picked up four, and got 239 points, finishing ten ahead of the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado.
You’ve got to feel for Goldschmidt. In 2013 and 2015, he finished second to Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper respectively, his candidacy likely hurt by the Diamondbacks’ inability to make the playoffs in those two seasons. In 2017, they finally made it. But Goldschmidt still lost the MVP award, finishing behind a player whose team finished 20 games back, and under .500, and one on a last-place team. Admittedly, it’s hard to claim he was too hard done by: both Stanton and Votto had incredible years. But, dammit, if ever a player deserved to be MVP just ONCE, it would be Goldschmidt over the last five seasons.
Here are the top 10 position players in the National League by bWAR over that time [in case you’re wondering, fWAR has Goldschmidt and Joey Votto #1 and #2 as well]
NL MVPs 2013-2017
Rk | Player | bWAR | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Player | bWAR | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
1 | Paul Goldschmidt | 31.0 | 3254 | 2712 | 504 | 824 | 148 | 519 | 485 | 703 | 95 | 25 | .304 | .410 | .543 | .953 |
2 | Joey Votto | 27.6 | 3077 | 2461 | 435 | 764 | 124 | 373 | 567 | 525 | 31 | 9 | .310 | .441 | .528 | .969 |
3 | Nolan Arenado | 27.4 | 3022 | 2758 | 420 | 800 | 148 | 506 | 212 | 449 | 11 | 11 | .290 | .340 | .534 | .875 |
4 | Buster Posey | 25.0 | 3005 | 2657 | 351 | 813 | 82 | 403 | 288 | 325 | 16 | 4 | .306 | .375 | .461 | .836 |
5 | Anthony Rizzo | 24.2 | 3374 | 2871 | 447 | 780 | 150 | 477 | 392 | 546 | 41 | 24 | .272 | .374 | .501 | .875 |
6 | Freddie Freeman | 22.9 | 3025 | 2603 | 430 | 779 | 121 | 415 | 366 | 630 | 21 | 11 | .299 | .391 | .517 | .908 |
7 | Giancarlo Stanton | 22.7 | 2622 | 2253 | 377 | 602 | 174 | 440 | 337 | 708 | 20 | 5 | .267 | .366 | .555 | .921 |
8 | Starling Marte | 22.1 | 2612 | 2382 | 359 | 690 | 60 | 249 | 128 | 559 | 169 | 52 | .290 | .347 | .439 | .786 |
9 | Andrew McCutchen | 21.1 | 3332 | 2865 | 452 | 834 | 121 | 430 | 402 | 608 | 73 | 30 | .291 | .383 | .490 | .873 |
10 | Bryce Harper | 21.0 | 2665 | 2223 | 409 | 641 | 128 | 362 | 399 | 545 | 44 | 22 | .288 | .397 | .525 | .920 |
Then again, perhaps second place is the right spot for someone as self-effacing and under the radar as Goldschmidt. You certainly wouldn’t think that he had been the best position player in the league since 2013, going by the amount of coverage, and I suspect Paul is entirely happy with that. An MVP award would likely also increase what he would be worth in regards to negotiating a contract extension, so there is a silver lining to this. He’ll always be the MVP of our hearts, anyway...
Further down the results, J.D. Martinez finished 14th, getting six mentions, with a high spot of 8th place. Archie Bradley and Zack Greinke finished tied for 20th, each being listed in 10th position on a single ballot. Here are full details of the voting from the BBWAA.
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