4 Best Bets For NL MVP Right Now

The past couple of months have shown us that there are a couple of players that are making a run at the NL MVP award. However, with roughly half of the season left to be played, it is still wide open. Here are four players that could keep up their strong play down the stretch and potentially win this award.

Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals (+110)

Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals has been putting together a phenomenal season. Not only does he have the best batting average in the league at .335, but he’s got the sixth most home runs at 24, the fourth most RBIs at 77 and the second highest OPS at 1.036. If you weren’t already convinced of his excellent play this year, his win over replacement stat is up to 5.3. Compare this to when Shohei Ohtani won the AL MVP award last season and he had 8.3. Goldschmidt has been great all year long, he just needs to keep it going down the second half of the year.

Manny Machado, San Diego Padres (+550)

Unfortunately, Manny Machado isn’t ranked towards the top of the lists in every category this season, but the impact that he’s had on the Padres is hard to miss. Machado has been able to keep San Diego competitive while Fernado Tatis has remained out of the lineup with a preseason injury and he’s done a nice job at it. His WAR rating is at 4.1 right now as well. The NL MVP race seems to be wide open right now, so Machado could fly up and overtake Goldschmidt in the odds with a strong second half.

Pete Alonso, New York Mets (+700)

In the New York Mets long 60-year history in the MLB, they have never seen one of their players win the NL MVP award. Pete Alonso might be the first to break that spell. Plus, Aaron Judge is putting together an MVP run of his own for the New York Yankees in the AL to make it two New Yorkers potentially winning this award. Alonso is fifth in the league with 26 home runs and is first with 84 RBIs. The Mets are usually not very strong down the stretch of the season, but if Alonso can keep them flying high then he’s going to be in contention.

Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers (+1200)

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a player of their own in the mix to win the NL MVP, that being Mookie Betts. Betts is tied for the 10^th most homers right now at 23 but falls short in some of the other major categories compared to these previously aforementioned players. For example, he is tied for 37^th with 52 RBIs and ranks 58^th in current batting average at .269. There is still a lot of time left, and the Dodgers are one of the more talented teams in the league right now. A good second half coupled with the Dodgers ending with the best record in the NL and he could be lifted higher up in the race.