Cody Bellinger Favored to Win NL MVP After Leading League in BA, OBP, and Slugging Percentage
- The Los Angeles Dodgers (41-19) have seven more wins than any other team in the National League
- Cody Bellinger has the best batting average in baseball at .376 and ranks second in home runs and RBI
- Nolan Arenado and the Rockies have won eight straight but still trail the Dodgers by nine games in the NL West
The NL MVP award is likely heading to Chavez Ravine and you need to get your money in on the action before it’s too late.
2019 National League MVP Odds
| Player | 2019 NL MVP Odds |
|---|---|
| Cody Bellinger | +200 |
| Christian Yelich | +500 |
| Nolan Arenado | +600 |
| Josh Bell | +900 |
| Javier Baez | +1000 |
| Bryce Harper | +1200 |
| Trevor Story | +1200 |
| Anthony Rizzo | +1600 |
| Freddie Freeman | +1600 |
| Anthony Rendon | +2000 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | +2000 |
| Ronald Acuna Jr | +2000 |
*odds taken 06/03/19
Cody Bellinger is well on his way to winning the first MVP of his career and despite the short +200 NL MVP odds I still think this bet is providing great value for two key reasons.
Cody Bellinger is an absolute menace on a baseball field pic.twitter.com/p1y7D6RpJX
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 28, 2019
Bellinger is a Box Score Beast
Playing on the West Coast can often hurt candidates in other sports, but in baseball it’s pretty easy to stack players up. Line up the stat categories and see who impresses the most.
Trying to find a positive metric where Bellinger isn’t at or near the top of the league is almost impossible.
Bellinger is batting .376 this season, which tops all of baseball, and his 20 home runs and 52 RBI both rank second. Trying to find a positive metric where Bellinger isn’t at or near the top of the league is almost impossible. In addition to mashing at the plate he also ranks seventh in the NL with seven steals while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in the outfield.
Cody Bellinger. That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/nXT9caVnPg
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 29, 2019
Other players in the NL like Christian Yelich and Nolan Arenado can’t be dismissed, but with the performance Bellinger has put on through the season’s first 60 games, I don’t see any signs of him slowing down as long as he can stay healthy.
Wins Matter in the MVP Race
Most valuable player. It’s simple really, who was the most valuable. It’s tough to prove your value on a losing team. Mike Trout tries to disprove this notion each season with the Angels, but the truth is the MVP winner should come from just that, a winner.
This season the Los Angeles Dodgers have done more winning in the NL than every other team, and it isn’t even close. They have a 41-19 record which gives them a nine-game lead in the NL West and seven more wins than any other team in the National League.
Charley’s preparing for his own #KershawDay. pic.twitter.com/eBVgHmcmNu
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 3, 2019
With a dominant player enjoying what could end up being a historically great season on a team running away from the rest of the competition, it certainly seems like Bellinger’s award to lose.
Sure, +200 isn’t the best price, but you can’t expect much more considering the information the books have at their disposal. They seem to agree he is the overwhelming favorite and my advice would be to hop on board before they shorten his odds any more.
Pick: Cody Bellinger (+200)
Ryan has been working at TSN for over eleven years, and is now a lead writer and content producer at That's Hockey. Over the years, he's launched and hosted TSN's first NCAAF podcast, The College Football Show, and been featured on the likes of TSN 1050, Sportscentre, and That's Hockey 2Nite.
