Nationals’ Bryce Harper wins NL MVP

Bryce Harper has been named the National League Most Valuable Player in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Harper’s Bondsian 1.109 OPS helped him become the youngest player (23) in the history of the game to be unanimously awarded the MVP trophy.

He beat out Cincinnati Reds’ first baseman Joey Votto and Arizona Diamondbacks’ first baseman Paul Goldschmidt for the MVP Award after winning a Silver Slugger, the Hank Aaron Award and the NL Outstanding Player award as voted on by his fellow major leaguers.

Behind his potent offense and stellar defense at third base, the Blue Jays reached the playoffs and clinched the AL East division for the first time since 1993. Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain finished in third. He had 122 runs, 184 hits, 41 doubles, two triples, 41 home runs, 123 RBIs, six stolen bases, 352 total bases, 10 sacrifice flies, a. 371 on-base average and a. 568 slugging percentage.

He hit. 330 in 2015, leading the NL in home runs (42, tied with Colorado’s Nolan Arenado), runs scored (118), on-base percentage (.460) and slugging percentage (.649).

While Toronto fans got their wish Thursday night as the Blue Jays third baseman was named the American League MVP, Donaldson said he never let the crowd noise affect his play. He is only the second third baseman to collected at least 40 homers, 120 RBIs and 120 runs. He has been in the MVP debate for the past three years, finishing fourth in 2013, eighth in 2014 and finally taking home the hardware in 2015.

Donaldson’s three-year career at Auburn from 2005-07 saw him hit.

The 23-year-old Sneed posted a 6-11 record with a 2.58 ERA in 26 games this past season, including 24 starts, between low Class A Wisconsin and high Class A Brevard County.

Harper also became the youngest unanimous victor of the award.

“Just being healthy, being able to stay in the game every single day and doing everything I could to help my team win on a daily basis”, Harper said of his improved offensive approach. 297 in 158 games. Trout also led Donaldson in Wins Above Replacement, both the Baseball-Reference version (9.4 to 8.7) and the FanGraphs version (9.0 to 8.7). It’s the first MVP in franchise history for the Nationals, including their years as the Expos in Montreal.

Donaldson also launched 41 homers while batting.