Ryan Braun is the 2012 NL MVP

 After watching Ryan Braun smack two home runs today at Miller Park in the Brewers’ 3-0 win over the Mets, something occurred to me; there’s an ongoing debate about who should win the 2012 NL MVP, and there really shouldn’t be.

Ryan Braun is putting up yet another fantastic season. As of today, he has 103 runs batted in, a .312 batting average, an OPS of .989, and he has belted a career high 40 home runs. Those are MVP numbers, maybe even better than the numbers he put up last year en route to winning the 2011 NL MVP award. With All due respect to guys like Andrew McCutchen, Matt Holiday, Buster Posey etc., nobody else even comes close to the numbers Braun has been producing this season.

Many have labeled Buster Posey the favorite for the MVP award and I just can’t understand why. Posey has 93 RBI, a batting average of .333, an OBP of .407 and an OPS of .952. Solid numbers for sure, but Posey only has 22 home runs and just 1 stolen base as opposed to Braun’s 24. Braun even leads Posey in some of the more advanced stats such as wOBA (.411 vs. .403 coming into the day) and ISO (.281 vs. .214). I’m also well aware that Posey plays catcher, which is a much more difficult position to play, but that doesn’t come close to closing the gap on Ryan Braun and his stats. If anything, McCutchen should be considered over Posey, but with the Pirates struggling (10-24 since August 8^th) and falling out of contention fast, I just can’t see him winning the award. 

While I’m on the subject of being in contention, the Brewers’ recent surge; winning 20 of 26 and pulling from 12.5 back to 2.5 back of the 2^nd wild card spot, will certainly help Ryan Braun’s case. Only 7 players have won the NL or AL MVP while playing for a losing team since the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) started voting back in 1931. If the Brewers can at least finish over .500 the award should be Braun’s to lose. Why is Braun seemingly not getting the respect he deserves? It might have something to do with his tumultuous offseason.

It’s remarkable what Ryan Braun has been able to accomplish this season given the events of this past winter. In early December, it was revealed that Braun had failed a drug test and would be suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games. That suspension was, of course, overturned in February on what some deemed to be a technicality. The only question that remains now is how the BBWAA will react in light of these events. Will they punish him for the link to steroids, or will they take a look at the stats that show no drop in performance this year? By all accounts, Ryan Braun should be the 2012 NL MVP and it’s not close. Will the BBWAA see it that way? I sure hope so.