MLB
Christian Yelich and Mookie Betts Win 2018 MLB MVP Awards
Last night, MLB announced their final awards of the 2018 season; the MVP Award. As expected, the National League MVP was Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich. In the American League, the MVP was Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts. Both players had a huge impact on their teams as they marched their way to the postseason. Also, both players dominated their respective leagues in numerous ways.
NL MVP: Christian Yelich
When Yelich was traded to the Brewers this past offseason, many experts thought that the Brewers over-paid for him. Yelich proved that this was not the case. In his first year with the Crew, Yelich batted .326 with 36 homers and 110 RBIs. He also stole 22 bases, hit for the cycle twice, and scored 118 runs. Also in 2018, Yelich won the NL Batting Crown, the 2018 NL Hank Aaron Award, and was the NL PLayer of the Month for the month of September.
Yelich also played a huge role for the Brewers as they made their first postseason since the 2011 season. He continued to get hit after hit and led the Brewers all the way back to the NLCS. Yelich beat out Cubs shortstop Javier Baez and Rockies third basemen Nolan Arenado. In 2019, Yelich will look to get the Brewers back to the postseason again; and hopefully get them to the World Series.
AL MVP: Mookie Betts
After battling it out all season with his teammate J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts prevailed as the 2018 AL MVP. Betts hit an MLB-best .346 with 32 homers and 80 RBIs. He also stole 30 bases, slugged .640, and his OPS stood at 1.078. Betts was one of the biggest threats in the Red Sox star-studded lineup. In 2018, Betts also won the AL Batting Crown, and the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award. He was the perfect 5-tool player the Red Sox expected him to be in 2018. He came away with a Silver Slugger, a Gold Glove Award, and another All-Star Game appearance. Betts and the Red Sox will look in repeat their dominance in the 2019 season.
Photo Credit to naila.rahaman07 via Flickr
