Bryce Harper was officially named the NL MVP on Friday by uniamous vote. The superstar is the youngest baseball player to ever win the NL MVP in this fashion. His outstanding season is marked by a .330/.460/.649 slash line at the plate. Despite the disapointing end to a promising season for the Nationals, voters remained loyal to Harper’s fabulous season. Harper garnered all first place votes on his way to earn 420 total points.
The MVP runner-up was Paul Goldschmidt who received 186 less points than Harper. Other NL MVP contenders, Joey Votto and Paul Goldschmidt both had impressive seasons. Goldschmidt hit .321 with 33 Home Runs and Votto hit .314 with 29 Home Runs. Normally these numbers would warrant more serious contention for MVP, but they could not match the slugging Bryce Harper. Despite the Washington Nationals struggles, 83-79 record, this year, Harper outperformed every other …show more content…
Harper stated, "All I wanted to do was stay healthy and stay on the field every day," in response to winning the award. His efforts paid off as it was his first season to remain healthy all season.
Team ownership expressed their excitement for many more MVP seasons from the 23-year old Harper. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo stated, "What a remarkable achievement for Bryce, to become the first Nationals or Expos player ever to earn the Most Valuable Player award.” Bryce Harper’s season was remarkable on more than just the statistics. Harper kept such high hitting numbers, while on a team that did not make the playoffs. He is the first such player to win the MVP and not make the playoffs since Albert Pujos in 2008. In addition to Harper’s dominate season, the Nationals have replaced Matt Williams with Dusty Baker as manager. It’ll be interesting to see how the two combine over the next few years, as the Nationals have Harper signed for three more
The MVP runner-up was Paul Goldschmidt who received 186 less points than Harper. Other NL MVP contenders, Joey Votto and Paul Goldschmidt both had impressive seasons. Goldschmidt hit .321 with 33 Home Runs and Votto hit .314 with 29 Home Runs. Normally these numbers would warrant more serious contention for MVP, but they could not match the slugging Bryce Harper. Despite the Washington Nationals struggles, 83-79 record, this year, Harper outperformed every other …show more content…
Harper stated, "All I wanted to do was stay healthy and stay on the field every day," in response to winning the award. His efforts paid off as it was his first season to remain healthy all season.
Team ownership expressed their excitement for many more MVP seasons from the 23-year old Harper. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo stated, "What a remarkable achievement for Bryce, to become the first Nationals or Expos player ever to earn the Most Valuable Player award.” Bryce Harper’s season was remarkable on more than just the statistics. Harper kept such high hitting numbers, while on a team that did not make the playoffs. He is the first such player to win the MVP and not make the playoffs since Albert Pujos in 2008. In addition to Harper’s dominate season, the Nationals have replaced Matt Williams with Dusty Baker as manager. It’ll be interesting to see how the two combine over the next few years, as the Nationals have Harper signed for three more