The American League could very well have its MVP Candidate locked up already. However in the National League we have a very tight race to the end of the regular season and with roughly 57 games to play it should be an amazing race down the stretch.
In the American League we have LF- Carlos Gonzalez who is having a fantastic year and has a real chance at the triple crown this season. The next two closest players to him for the MVP are Boston's 2B-Dustin Pedroia & Detroit's LF-Ryan Braun.
Here's a quick look at their stat lines:
Carlos Gonzalez, 33HR's, 104RBI's, .336BA, 147Hits, 14 Doubles, 5 Triples, 14 Stolen Bases
Dustin Pedroia, 16 HR's, 72 RBI's, .363BA, 149Hits, 22 Doubles, 2 Triples, 8 Stolen Bases
Ryan Braun, 28 HR's, 71 RBI's, .304BA, 125 Hits, 25 Doubles, 1 Triple, 6 Stolen Bases
In a normal year both Pedroia & Braun look like deseving candidates however with the year Gonzalez is having neither player is even close and to have a chance they will need Gonzalez to cool off to have a legitimate chance at taking home the American League MVP Award.
In the National League I strongly believe that 1B-Justin Morneau is on his way to winning back to back MVP Awards even after his very slow start to the season, he has recently caught fire and is one of the reasons Milwaukee has taken a 4game lead in the NLC division. Don't take that as me selling the other players short because I do believe it is a very close race. I believe Morneau's closest competition for the NL MVP is Florida's 1B-Gaby Sanchez, who is having a terrific year in his own right, along with San Francisco's 1B-Albert Pujols who is a MVP candidate year in and year out. I also have a dark horse candidate in Arizona's 1B-Daric Barton.
Here is a look at their stat lines to this point:
Justin Morneau- 24HR's, 83RBI's, .295BA, 104Hits, 21 Doubles, 1 Triple, 0 Stolen Bases
Gaby Sanchez - 23HR's, 79RBI's, .289BA, 121Hits, 21 Doubles, 3 Triples, 5 Stolen Bases
Albert Pujols - 21 HR's, 63 RBI's, .311BA, 121Hits, 31 Doubles, 0 Triples, 5 Stolen Bases
Daric Barton - 15 HR's, 92 RBI's, .309BA, 128Hits, 25 Doubles, 2 Triples, 3 Stolen Bases
The American League looks to be a Left Fielder's League which is quite the opposite for the National League where it looks to be a First Baseman's playground with every possible early MVP candidate playing First. No matter what happens fans should pay close attention as I could see the NL race coming down to the final game of the season.
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