Sep 24, 2020
With four days remaining in the 2020 regular season, the National League Most Valuable Player race remains unsettled.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman has had a torrid September, Padres third baseman Manny Machado is the face of one of the top offenses in baseball and Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts is the best player on the best team in the majors.
When the MVP votes are counted, all three players should appear on every voter's ballot, but it's possible a few San Francisco Giants players will also be on the minds of voters this year. For voters determining whether or not to list a member (or multiple members) of the Giants on their 10-player ballot, there's a legitimate question as to who has made the biggest impact this year.
Should voters include second-year outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, who was one of the top three candidates in the MVP race during the first half of the season and the team's leader in Wins Above Replacement? Should they prioritize another outfielder in Alex Dickerson, who has the highest OPS in the major leagues in the month of September and who has willed the Giants' to a number of several second-half victories? Or should voters look at the collective contributions of first baseman Brandon Belt, who brought his OPS above 1.000 for the season?
With infielder Donovan Solano still competing for a batting title and relievers Tony Watson and Jarlín García headed toward finishing with some of the lowest ERAs of any major league pitchers this season, the list of Giants players enjoying the best years of their career in a condensed 60-game season is extensive.
How MVP voters evaluate the Giants and their top performers remains uncertain, but there's no question the team is in a playoff position thanks to the contributions of a long list of players.