Dodgers Star Picked as Top 2 NL MVP Candidate Early in the Season
We are a little over six weeks into the 2023 MLB season. The Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball, winners of 13 of their last 15 games, and coming off a series sweep of the San Diego Padres. The 26-15 Dodgers currently have a three-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West, and a seven-game lead over the third-place Padres.
What's nice about the Dodgers' success is it's not just coming from one or two guys. The starting pitching has been great, the bullpen has been much better and multiple guys in the lineup have started contributing more. Even with the current slumps of Max Muncy and James Outman, the Dodgers offense is still playing well, and that's in large part due to the guys at the top of the order — Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.
Those three guys are off to great starts this season, and the first two are really finding their stride in May. That's why, on a recent power rankings of the MLB MVP candidates, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report featured all three of those guys. Here's where they all landed, starting with the guy at the top.
Mookie Betts came in at No. 2 on the list, only trailing Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna, the odds-on NL MVP favorite right now. Betts, who is nowhere near his peak yet this season, is only going to continue making a case for the top spot. Here's a part of what Miller had to say:
"Over the course of his career, he has been a better hitter in July, August and September than he is in April, May and June.
But the kicker here is that we've already been talking about Betts' defense all year. Because of injuries and ineffectiveness among the injury replacements, this right fielder has played a combined total of nearly 100 innings at second base and shortstop—and has yet to commit a single error at any position.
That won't be forgotten when it's time to debate the importance of various stars. And with the Dodgers surging over the past two weeks, I've got to believe there's a good chance their MVP will be the NL MVP.
Next on the list was Freeman, who came in at the No. 7 spot in Miller's rankings. Here's what he had to say about the Dodgers first baseman:
"An unfortunate truth for Freeman is that, in addition to trying to outperform the other stars of the National League, he is competing against his former self for MVP consideration. And for a guy who triple-slashed .308/.400/.541 from 2016 to '22, his current marks are subpar—as is his 162-game pace of just 83 RBI. He traditionally does his best slugging in June and July, though, so we'll see if he heats up a bit when the weather does."
And finally, Dodgers catcher Will Smith was among those to just miss the cut. If he continues to play the way he's playing right now, though, he may rise up these rankings sooner rather than later.
