NL MVP race heats up with these four players making their case
By CJ Luther
The 2019 NL MVP race has gotten quite crowded with Cody Bellinger, Christin Yelich, Anthony Rendon, Ronald Acuna Jr. and more stake their claims!
Back in August of 2019, fellow colleague Bill Felber took a look at the state of 2019 NL MVP race. At the time, it was essentially a two-man race between OF Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2018 NL MVP, OF Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The two paced the Senior Circuit in the majority of the most important statistics. In fact, when that piece was published on August 15, 2019, Bellinger and Yelich sat at 6.4 WAR and 6.2 WAR, respectively. Ketel Marte was in third place at the time, almost a full 1 WAR behind Yelich.
It looked as if the two outfielders were left to fight for the award amongst themselves.
Oh, how things can change in three weeks! In the mere span of 23 days, the NL MVP race has gotten very interesting. With teams battling for playoff contention, certain players have elevated their game to new heights, launching themselves into the fold. Others have supported their claims by continuing to produce, while a slight slide from Bellinger and Yelich has helped lessen the gap.
The NL MVP race is seemingly wide open, and with roughly 20 games left, there are some strong candidates for the award. Let’s take a look at where the top contenders stand, and how the race could potentially shake out!