Christian Yelich is the frontrunner for the NL MVP, but why exactly does he deserve to win it? Here are the top five reasons the Brewers outfielder deserves the award.
1. The Brewers have gotten robbed in other award categories this season
Craig Counsell was the most recent victim for the Brewers award snubs, as he lost his chance at NL Manager of the Year. He joins Lorenzo Cain, Manny Pina, Travis Shaw and even Yelich himself who all lost in their chance at a Gold Glove. After such a memorable season, you'd think the Brewers would get some more love.
2. He was a main catalyst in the Brewers' run to the NLCS
The Brewers made it to the NLCS for the first time since 2011 thanks in large part to Yelich's contributions. The Brewers won eight straight heading into the postseason. In those games, Yelich went 11-24 with five HR and 17 RBIs. He also scored the first and last runs for the Brewers in the postseason.
3. He hit for the cycle...twice
Hitting for the cycle is quite the feat in baseball, and most players are lucky to do it once in their entire career. Yelich on the other hand did it twice in one season. He also completed them within 20 days of each other. He hit his first on August 29 against the Cincinnati Reds and then hit his second on September 17 against the Reds as well. Not to mention in his first cycle, he went a perfect 6-for-6.
4. The stats speak for themselves
Not only did Yelich lead the National League in batting average(.326), he also finished third in home runs (36), second in RBIs (110) and was first in wins above replacement (7.6). He was also no slouch on the defensive side of the plate. He only made three errors all season.
5. Everyone else seems to think so
Forget all the sportswriters and voters who think Yelich is a lock for NL MVP, celebrities have named him the presumptive MVP. Ed Sheeran wore his jersey at a performance at Miller Park and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield wore a "Yeli" jersey before the Browns won their first game in nearly two years.
I 👀 you @bakermayfield ! pic.twitter.com/oRSsmfhnMD
— Christian Yelich (@ChristianYelich) September 20, 2018
The Milwaukee County Transit System believes in the outfielder so much they have re-named one of their bus routes the "Yelich Line" for this upcoming year.
Bus Route Named in Honor of (Soon-to-Be) @Brewers MVP @ChristianYelich
(a thread!) pic.twitter.com/90lYta7RcR— RideMCTS (@RideMCTS) November 7, 2018
There are lots of reasons why Christian Yelich deserves the award. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see if the rest of the league thinks so too.
