Most Valuable Player
While every award is impressive, the Most Valuable Player Award is possibly the most impressive. It goes to the most valuable player in each league, who is typically also the best player in the league. The MVP Award usually goes to a position player, because they play more often and have more chances to make an impact, but pitchers can also receive the award.
Most teams don’t have anyone in the running for the MVP Award, but the Nats have four candidates: Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, and Max Scherzer. Scherzer may receive a few votes, but he will fall victim to the pitcher argument in the end. Therefore, Rendon, Harper, and Zimmerman are the Nats’ main three candidates.
Somehow, Rendon was not named an All-Star this season. In spite of this, he led the National League in fWAR, a stat many people use to judge the value of a player. Because of this, Rendon has an excellent case to win the NL MVP Award.
In the end, Rendon will most likely not win the award. He has certainly played well enough to win it, but he is not nationally well-known enough to win. Nevertheless, he has had an incredible season and should receive some MVP votes.
In addition to Rendon, Bryce Harper also has a shot at the award. He won it in 2015, when he had one of the individual seasons of all-time at age-22, and he was having an MVP-caliber season this year before getting hurt.
A leg injury forced Harper to miss over a month, which effectively took him out of the running. He did not receive enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, and the time on the disabled list will likely cost him the MVP Award as well. While Harper will most likely not win the award this season, he should still get votes and is a perennial threat to win.
The Nats’ final MVP candidate is Ryan Zimmerman. The face of the franchise has battled injuries over the past few seasons, which diminished his on-field performance. However, he was finally healthy this season.
Zimmerman had a phenomenal season, and even started the All-Star Game for the National League. He filled an enormous role in the heart of the lineup, and was a catalyst in the Nats’ potent offense. He will not win the award, but should still garner some votes, which is an honor in itself.
If a National wins the MVP Award, it will most likely be Anthony Rendon.