Hopeful he can avoid being forced to the pen, Utley builds his case for NL MVP
June 22 2007
If they move Utley to the pen and blow out his arm I really think they should consider some organizational changes.
Chase Utley has been as
expected so far this season. Maybe even better. He tore through April,
hitting 296/395/582 with five home runs, didn't cool down much in May
(301/368/504) and is tearing things up in June to the tune of 373/449/627.
He's been absolutely unstoppable against lefties, hitting 327/445/536.
Through 72 games he's on-pace to hit 27 home runs and drive in 126 runs.
He's in the thick of the race for MVP of the National League.
What does a second baseman have to do to win the NL MVP? A lot. Jeff Kent
was the last to win the award as a second baseman in 2000. With the
Giants that year he hit 334/424/596 with 33 home runs and 125 RBI.
Assuming that 2007 isn't the first year since 1968 that the NL MVP is a
pitcher, here are the six NL players who could make the best case for the
award based on what they've done so far this season:
| Player | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Cabrera | 265 | 16 | 52 | 328 | 398 | 596 | 994 |
| Holliday | 290 | 13 | 58 | 366 | 410 | 617 | 1.027 |
| Reyes | 287 | 3 | 32 | 317 | 399 | 453 | 852 |
| Utley | 278 | 12 | 56 | 317 | 398 | 561 | 959 |
| Bonds | 173 | 14 | 31 | 283 | 490 | 572 | 1.062 |
| Fielder | 270 | 26 | 59 | 289 | 379 | 641 | 1.020 |
Utley or Reyes would have
to get a significant credit for their defensive contributions to get consideration at the top of this list. That usually doesn't happen. Reyes
is the most valuable defensive player of the group and brings a dimension
that none of the other players do with his 38 stolen bases. I still don't
think he has much of a shot unless he hits the ball out of the yard a
lot the rest of the way.
Pretty sure Bonds isn't going to win. It's hard to make an argument
for Cabrera over Holliday or Fielder without suggesting he is hurt
significantly by his yard. But he is. Using OPS as the measure, as you would expect,
Cabrera is hitting better on the road (1.005) than at home (.980).
He's also hitting far better away from home than either Holliday or Fielder.
I don't think that's going to sway many MVP voters, though.
He's not the best hitter and certainly not the best player on the list, but
with the Brewers up in the NL Central by 7 1/2 games, I think Fielder wins
if the vote was held today. He leads the NL in home runs and is tied
for the league lead in RBI. Utley's not far behind, though, and you
may have noticed that when the season ends the Brewers are often not in the
playoffs. Prince Fielder sometimes doesn't even lead the league in
home runs and RBI.