MLB: Top NL MVP Candidates of the First Half

At the MLB season’s unofficial midpoint, which players are leading the pack in the National League MVP race?

Although the All-Star break doesn’t line up perfectly with the middle of the season, fans and writers alike tend to consider it the midway point of the season. Because it is the midway point of the season, we can examine some important questions about how the rest of the season will go. One of the most important questions is who will walk away from the season with the Most Valuable Player trophy in either league. Right now we’re going to focus solely on the MVP candidates from the National League.

The National League is stacked with very good players, so I had to stretch the top contenders from top 5 to top 6 because I just couldn’t leave one of the players out. Even then, I didn’t include pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who was one of the best players in all of baseball until an injury sent him to the disabled list. The injury hurts his MVP chances, but it appears as though he will still have a chance at the Cy Young coming out of the injury.

Of the six players that I’ve deemed serious candidates for the NL MVP, four are on either the Nationals or Cubs. While one may argue that the term “most valuable” means that one singular player is the most valuable on his team rather than just the player of most value in the league, I tend to believe in the latter statement. Being one of multiple very good players on a team does not diminish the value of a player; therefore, the Nationals and Cubs repeats are completely valid candidates.

* This list is in no particular order, which was done to emphasize the importance of second half performance. None of these six players has by any means separated themselves from the pack, and none of the six should leave us shocked if they win.

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