The MLB NL MVP Award is given out annually to the best performing player in the National League. There are a few new faces at the top of this list as well as a very familiar name that has been at the top of this list for a while. Here are the NL MVP Rankings for August.
Austin Riley, 3B, Atlanta Braves
AUSTIN RILEY WALKS IT OFF THIS BRAVES LINEUP pic.twitter.com/IBudmYny7i
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) July 31, 2022
Avg: .301
OBP: .360
SLG: .604
HR: 29
RBI: 68
2B: 31
K/BB: 108/31
WAR: 4.7
Austin Riley has been an anchor in the Braves lineup for the last few years. Just this past week, the Braves locked Riley up with a 10-year contract worth over 200 million dollars. It was a huge, and much-deserved payday for the MVP candidate. Riley absolutely owned the month of July. In July, he posted a slash line of .423/.459/.885. That’s good for an ungodly 1.344 OPS. He tallied 44 hits, 11 of which were home runs and 15 of which were doubles. He raised his batting average by over 40 points in the month. If Riley can continue this kind of play, it will make things very interesting in the National League MVP race.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
Paul Goldschmidt's 1000th career RBI! pic.twitter.com/wooeeG8kam
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 23, 2022
Avg: .332
OBP: .412
SLG: .611
HR: 25
RBI: 81
2B: 28
K/BB: 92/49
WAR: 5.1
Paul Goldschmidt has been at the top of the National League for the majority of the year. He ranks top five in the MLB in batting average, RBIs, and OPS. He’s closing in on 100 RBIs for the season. As of now, Goldschmidt looks to tally over 40 home runs and over 120 RBIs. To go with that, he has a tremendous slash line of .332/.412/.611. If he can keep these numbers where they are, or even improve on them, it will be a hard case to make against Goldschmidt for MVP.
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Freddie Freeman leads the Dodgers in batting average (.328), on-base percentage (.404), slugging % (.541), OPS (.945) doubles (36), he's 2nd in RBIs (68), and 3rd in home runs with 15. Wow! #dodgers pic.twitter.com/tJ5YXVO4uu
— Dodger Poke Report (@dodger_poke) August 2, 2022
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Freddie Freeman is another player who has recently put himself among the top players in the National League. Freeman has some good batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage numbers. His slash line is .328/.404/.541. But Freeman doesn’t have the counting numbers to go with that, that is expected of an MVP candidate. Freeman also put together a great month of July. He almost hit .400 for the month and tallied 17 total extra-base hits. The emergence of Freddie Freeman has made the NL MVP race a tight one for the rest of the season.
Prediction: Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
The NL MVP award prediction remains with Paul Goldschmidt. But the race has gotten much closer. He has been the constant on this list as the other candidates have fluctuated. His consistent dominance has placed him at the top of this list and the Cardinals in the midst of a playoff race. If Goldschmidt is able to push the Cardinals into the playoffs, he would be a lock for this award. The 2022 season is far from over, but as of now, the NL MVP has a name. And it is Paul Goldschmidt.
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