Josh Donaldson Named AL MVP

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout finished a distant second in the AL voting with seven first-place votes. In the end Harper won all 30 first place votes in the run-a-way win. He also led the majors in on-base percentage at.460.

Bryce Harperbecame the youngest unanimous MVP victor in baseball history Thursday, capturing the NL award despite his Washington Nationals missing the playoffs.

Harper became the first player from the Nationals-Montreal Expos franchise to win the MVP award, garnering the maximum 420 points. Harper’s 2015 season also earned him the NL Hank Aaron Award, a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger, the Player’s Choice Award for NL Outstanding Player, NL Player of the Month honors for May, three NL Player of the Week awards (May 4-10, 11-17, and September 14-20), and the third All-Star selection of his career.

After missing most of 2014 with a knee injury, Votto rebounded in 2015, not only playing in 158 games, but hitting.314/.459/.541 with 29 home runs and 80 RBI. Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain was third with 225 points.

Before baseball’s recent supercharged offensive era – beginning with the 1993 expansion and coinciding with the rise of steroids – only eight players had achieved a season with an OPS as high as 1.109 and at least 42 homers.

Harper is the third youngest player to be named NL MVP, behind only Johnny Bench and Stan Musial.

Donaldson brought a gritty attitude to a club that had hovered on the edges or relevance for years before rallying late this season to win the AL East. Donaldson’s reckless abandon was exemplified by the sensational catch he made while diving into the stands pursuing a foul pop in June, one of the highlight plays of the season for the elite defender. Donaldson outdistanced Mike Trout, who was the runner-up for the third time in four years. A fifth-year third baseman, Donaldson led the AL in RBIs with 123 and was third in the AL in home runs (41). 299 with 90 RBIs and 104 runs. He got all 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Trout and Yogi Berra are the only AL position players to ever finish in the top two in MVP voting four consecutive seasons.

“I’m definitely very excited to be part of the Nationals organization”, Harper responded. He went into the final day of the regular season with a chance to win the NL batting title – Miami’s Dee Gordon edged him – and scored a league-leading 118 runs.

The jolt hit him heavy last November, and it took Josh Donaldson a couple weeks to grasp the reality that the A’s had actually traded him. According to ESPN Stats & Info, he’s the first player to win the award in his first season with a new team since Vladimir Guerrero did it with the Angels in 2004.