In what cannot be a surprise to anyone, Christian Yelich of the Brewers capped his outstanding debut season in Milwaukee winning the National League MVP award.
It was the least the league could do for the 26-year-old outfielder who nearly became the NL's first Triple Crown winner since Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937. Yelich did become the first Brewer ever to win a batting title, leading the NL with a .326 average, but he fell two home runs shy of Colorado’s Nolan Arenado with 36 long balls and was just one RBI behind the Cubs Javier Baez with 110.
And speaking of those two dudes—it was Arenado and Baez of who finished just behind him in the balloting.
After a first half typical for his career standards, Yelich heated up after the All-Star break, hitting .367 with 25 home runs and 67 RBIs in 65 games. He was at his best when the season reached its zenith, going 11-for-24 with 17 RBIs as Milwaukee closed the season with eight straight wins to erase its deficit to the Cubs in the division.
- Yelich became the fourth player in Brewers history to win MVP honors. He joined Rollie Fingers (1981), Robin Yount (1982 and 1989), and Ryan Braun—who became the Brewers' first MVP for the Brewers after their move to the National League.
- Yelich's late-season heroics allowed him to pull away in what appeared to be a murky MVP race entering the season's final month. Baez, 25, was bidding to become the second Cubs player to win MVP in the past three seasons, joining Kris Bryant, who won in 2016.
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Source: ESPN