Top 5 NL MVP Award candidates for the 2023 MLB Awards

Voting for the Major League Baseball awards for the 2023 season has already begun.

After the World Series is over in November, the winners of the Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young Award, and MVP Awards for both the American League and National League will be announced.

Here are our top five picks for the National League Most Valuable Player Award for the 2023 MLB season:

5) Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

Corbin Carroll’s outstanding debut season in the major leagues should place the 23-year-old within the top-5 of the NL MVP vote in addition to bringing him NL Rookie of the Year honours. For the first time since 2017, Carroll led the Arizona Diamondbacks into the postseason with a slash line of.285/.362/.868 with 25 home runs and 54 stolen bases.

4) Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers

The top-4 in the NL are a small group made up of two teams. Given the exorbitant asking prices for shortstops Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Dansby Swanson, and Trea Turner as free agents last winter, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ five-year, $125 million deal with Freddie Freeman still appears to be an excellent deal. Freeman had a 2023 slash of.331/.410/.976 with 29 home runs and 102 RBI.

3) Matt Olson, 1B, Atlanta Braves

Although it was close, Matt Olson narrowly prevails against the Atlanta replacement. Olson recorded career highs in home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage during his second season with the Braves. Olson had the most home runs, RBI, and SLG in the league. He wins the bronze medal thanks to his aptitude for driving in runs, along with his balance of strength and contacts.

2) Ronald Acuna Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves

We took a different route even though Acuna is the clear favourite and will probably earn his first MVP Award later this fall.

1) Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

Acuna had a phenomenal year. He led the NL in OPS and had the first 40-70 season in baseball history. However, Mookie Betts deserves to receive the prize for being the National League’s most valuable player.

The Braves’ offence in 2023 might be the finest in the history of the sport. Acuna stole 73 bases, but did Atlanta really need him to? If he had stayed at first base, wouldn’t they have usually scored on him, especially with Matt Olson batting behind him and his 54 home runs? Acuna also led the NL in caught stealings with 14, and the new MLB rules have made basestealing considerably simpler than in previous seasons. In the future, there will be more players that steal 70 or more bases. Additionally, even without Acuna, the Braves still possess a premier offence. They still wouldn’t have won the NL East, right?

One more thing about Acuna: the right fielder cost the Braves defensively. Acuna finished the season with a -9 in Outs Above Average and was 119th out of 126 qualifying outfielders in Defensive Runs Saved.

While playing three different positions for the Dodgers, a six-time Gold Glover amassed 10 DRS. Betts may not have amassed the extravagant stolen base totals, but Acuna and he have nearly equal OPS+, home run, and RBI totals. One may contend that Betts was asked to do more during this pivotal year for Los Angeles. He manned right field for 98 games, played 65 games at second base, played 14 games at shortstop, and contributed to his team’s third consecutive 100-game winning season.

In view, the Dodgers would suffer more from the loss of Betts than the Braves would suffer from the loss of Acuna. After all, Acuna was on the IL when Atlanta won the World Series less than two years ago. Betts is, by definition, a more valuable player than Acuna. Betts is the 2023 National League Most Valuable Player as a result.