Boston Red Sox: American League MVP should come out of Boston

The Boston Red Sox have two American League MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, both have great chances of winning the award.

The Boston Red Sox have the best record in baseball, a commanding lead in the division, and have two potential American League MVP’s on their roster. Both players are among league leaders in the top hitting categories and both players are huge parts of this teams’ success.

Mookie Betts is the heart and soul of this team and J.D. Martinez has been the stud in the middle of the lineup ownership expected when we signed him. With not too many strong MVP options in the American League this year, a member of the Red Sox should be taking the award home.

I am a firm believer that the MVP winner should be on a winning team. Mike Trout is going to obviously be a candidate, but the Angles are 10 games out of the Wild Card and honestly don’t really have a shot at October.

More from Chowder and Champions

• 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
• 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
• MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
• 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
• Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win

Other American League MVP candidates include Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor and third basemen Jose Ramirez. Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros is also in the conversation, but has had a down year and isn’t a frontrunner for the award. With the Red Sox being the best team in baseball, one of their top players should win.

Making the case for Mookie Betts.

Mookie Betts is the leadoff hitter for the best team in baseball. Betts is batting .340 with 26 HR, 58 RBI, 93 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. His OPS is 1.077 and his WAR is 7.1, good for third in the American League. He ranks in the top 10 in all major categories besides RBI. His low RBI numbers could be due to the fact that he missed about a week earlier in June.

Regardless, Mookie Betts has been one of the leaders of this team, and has delivered in clutch moments time and time again.

Betts plays day in and day out, spare the rare off day. He is always starting and usually gets on base. Being the leadoff hitter, Betts has to set the tone for the team. He does just that. Betts has been in the conversation for American League MVP the past two seasons and this could be the year he finally gets over the hump.

Making the case for J.D. Martinez.

One of the biggest offseason splashes around baseball was J.D. Martinez. Boston signed the slugger to a 5 year $110 million contract earlier this year in February. At the time, there were doubters in Boston; I was one of them, boy was I proved wrong.

Martinez has put together one outstanding season. Batting .332 with a 1.053 OPS, 34 HR, and 98 RBI. J.D. also has 81 runs scored and 4 stolen bases. Martinez carries a WAR of 5 as well. He ranks in the top 3 in all major hitting categories in the American League and looks like he will be to be the first player in the MLB to 100 RBI on the season.

He potentially could win the triple crown, something that hasn’t been done since 2012 when Miguel Cabrera completed the feat and also won MVP that season. Martinez has been a huge help to the Red Sox lineup, finally giving them a feared hitter in the middle of the order; something missing since the departure of David Ortiz two years ago.

Martinez has also been a leader for this team on and off the field. On the field, he is a top hitter and leads by example. Off the field, he is helping a lot of the other players on their hitting.

Rafael Devers has been the benefit of some hitting instruction from Martinez. Even when he was in Arizona last season he was helping a lot of their hitters and that is something he brought over to Boston. There has been a complete turnaround offensively for this team over the past year, and the addition of J.D. Martinez has largely been part of that.

Plenty of season left for these two to build their case even more.

There are 47 games left in the regular season. Both Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez should finish the season with monster numbers. The Boston Red Sox should finish with over 100 wins and look to be the top seed in the playoffs.

Betts and Martinez are huge parts of this team’s success and that trend should continue towards the end of the season. Let’s hope all who have a vote for MVP use it on one of Boston’s sluggers, I definitely would if I could.