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https://sports.yahoo.com/mets-star-francisco-lindor-strong-164008177.html
Mets star Francisco Lindor has strong case for 2024 NL MVP — even against legendary Shohei Ohtani
Danny Abriano
Mon, Aug 26, 2024, 12:40 PM EDT
Mets star Francisco Lindor started the 2024 season in a 1-for-31 slump. Since then? He's been — quite literally — the best player in the National League.
Over his last 123 games, Lindor has hit .283/.350/.515 with 27 homers, 34 doubles, 77 RBI, and 88 runs.
He has a career-best 134 OPS+ and is on pace to finish the season with 33 homers, 42 doubles, 96 RBI, and 110 runs scored.
Defensively, which is half of the game in case anyone has forgotten, Lindor has been truly elite at shortstop — one of the most important positions on the diamond — in the 99th percentile when it comes to OAA (Outs Above Average).
Want the list of all the players who have been more valuable than Lindor this season? Here it is, via FanGraphs/fWAR:
Aaron Judge
Bobby Witt Jr.
Juan Soto
Gunnar Henderson
Absent from the list? Shohei Ohtani, whose name has understandably come up every single time anyone has made the case that Lindor should be under serious consideration for the National League MVP award.
Ohtani's name comes up because he is having a historic offensive season. Much more on that in a bit.
But some more on Lindor before we get to Ohtani.
To put what he's done in proper context, the following things must be taken into account...
First, Lindor this season became the only shortstop in MLB history to hit at least 25 homers and steal at least 25 bases in a season three times. His offensive contributions and defensive value are one-of-a-kind.
Second, he plays every day. Like actually every day. Lindor has not had a day off this season, and has so far refused Mets manager Carlos Mendoza's efforts to give him one. Lindor played 160 games last season and 161 in 2022.
Third, he is the Mets' leader in the clubhouse, on the field, and with the media — the latter should not be lost on anyone given how hard it is to navigate the daily throng of reporters in New York.
Now, let's look at the three main criteria for MVP, as voted on by the BBWAA:
(1) actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense; (2) number of games played; (3) general character, disposition, loyalty and effort
The "strength of offense and defense" part of this is key when discussing Lindor vs. Ohtani, but there's also obviously a gray area — a handful of pitchers have won the MVP award, including Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, and Ohtani has won it multiple times as a pitcher/DH who doesn't play defense.
A strict DH has never won the MVP award, but if there were ever a case for one to nab it, it would be Ohtani this year.
Ohtani is having an amazing offensive season. Legendary even.
Entering play on Monday, Ohtani was hitting .292 with a .378 OBP and NL-leading .615 slugging percentage.
He has already hit 41 homers and stolen 40 bases, giving him a chance to become the first player in MLB history to hit at least 50 homers and swipe 50 bags in a single season.
However, amid Ohtani's magical season, there are some things to consider.
The main one is this: Ohtani is putting up these incredible numbers while focusing on literally nothing else between the lines. That means the mental aspect of needing to perform either defensively or (in Ohtani's usual case) on the mound, has been removed. Perhaps more importantly, the physical aspect of having to perform anywhere but on the offensive side of things is also gone.
That brings us to the next two questions.
First, should a DH win the MVP award if there's a position player who's more valuable? That Ohtani is even close to Lindor in value given that he doesn't play defense shows you how incredible he's been offensively.
Second, would a non-Ohtani DH win it if he were putting up these numbers? Translation: Would a strict DH who hadn't already won multiple MVP awards as the only true two-way star since Babe Ruth be the shoo-in to win the 2024 NL MVP that most people think Ohtani is?
During every season where Ohtani is an above average performer at the plate and on the mound, he'll probably win the MVP — and deservedly so. And it will be an upset if he doesn't win it this year on the strength of what he's doing offensively.
But it can be easily argued that Lindor has the better case this year — and is more deserving. ___________________
Mar-A-Lago delenda est
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