Of course, it was no surprise to me that Toronto Blue Jay’s third baseman, Josh Donaldson was named the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) last night.
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Harper, the first MVP in franchise history (Nationals/Expos), garnered 420 points in the balloting process, including 30 first-place votes, and finished 186 points ahead of the second-place finisher, Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The lift into a playoff spot Donaldson provided might well have persuaded a few MVP voters to pick him over Trout, whose Angels sagged in the second half.
The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year led the majors in slugging percentage (.649) and on-base percentage (.460).
It didn’t take too long for Josh Donaldson to fit in with the Toronto Blue Jays.
It’s unusual that the winners came from the NL and AL East. Harper is the fourth player from the NL East to win since three-division alignment began in 1994 (the other two divisions have nine winners each).
For the second straight year, all games played on the last day of the season – October2 – will start at approximately 3 p.m. EDT.
Despite the Nationals’ underachievement team this year, Harper’s season was simply so much better than anyone else in the league that it was impossible to ignore.
It was still an impressive display of the precocious talent percolating in the game that the previous youngest unanimous MVP – Trout in 2014 – held on to that title for just one year. Stats aren’t kept for Win Probability Added for defense, but Donaldson would likely have rated well there, as he finished with 11 Defensive Runs Saved. He also becomes the first Jay to win the AL MVP since George Bell did so in 1987.
It is the first MVP award for both players.
Maybe this will end his run as baseball’s most overrated player as voted by his peers. Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain was third. Mike Rizzo, one of Harper’s teammates, had this to say about the man, “This guy carried us throughout the whole season”. After a phenomenal performance, Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper is taking home the 2015 National League MVP award. Donaldson’s award caps off the Blue Jays’ best season since winning the World Series in 1993. 991 while batting. 299 with 41 homers and 90 RBI. Joey Votto finished third in voting. He also led the National League with 118 runs scored and tied for the league lead with 42 home runs.
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In the 2015 season, Donaldson hit. “I feel like I was able to take advantage of the opportunities put in front of me”, Donaldson said on the Major League Baseball Network telecast of the awards.
