The Nationals’ Bryce Harper was unanimously named the National League Most Valuable Player by the BBWAA. Harper is the youngest player in the history of the game to unanimously win the award. Harper received 420 points with all 30 first-place votes. Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks finished second with 234 points and the Reds’ Joey Votto was third with 175 points.
Anthony Rizzo finished fourth in the voting with 162 points, just 13 behind Joey Votto. Rizzo received three second-place votes, four third-place votes and seven fourth-place votes.
Jake Arrieta finished sixth in the voting for NL MVP with 134 points and received five second-place votes. Kris Bryant was 11th in the voting with a total of 34 points. Bryant received one third-place vote.
What a week for the Chicago Cubs … Jake Arrieta is the NL Cy Young Award winner, Kris Bryant is the NL Rookie of the Year, Joe Maddon is the NL Manager of the Year and the leader of the team, Anthony Rizzo finished fourth in the voting for National League MVP.
Josh Donaldson was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. Mike Trout finished second in the voting followed by the Royals’ Lorenzo Cain.
Anthony Rizzo had an excellent season and he had such an impact on the 97-win Cubs’ team that many in the game thought he should have been a finalist for the NL MVP Award.
For the year, Rizzo ended up hitting .278/.387/.512 with 38 doubles, three triples and 31 home runs for a .899 OPS. Rizzo drove in 101 runs and was hit by a pitch 30 times.
Rizzo earned a trip to the All-Star Game after batting .298/.413/.542 with 24 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs for a .955 OPS in the first half. Rizzo slowed down after the break and managed a .255/.355/.478 slash line with 14 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs and a .833 OPS. In hindsight Rizzo should have been given time off to keep him fresh. Rizzo played in all but two games in 2015.
Against lefties this past season, Rizzo hit .294/.409/.472 with a .881 OPS and versus right handed pitching he batted .272/.378/.527 with a .905 OPS.
Anthony Rizzo made a lot of improvement with runners on base and in scoring position. Rizzo hit .311/.432/.545 with runners on base with 17 doubles and 13 home runs for a .977 OPS. With runners in scoring position, Rizzo had a .303/.418/.577 line with a .995 OPS and with RISP and two outs, Rizzo was 16-for-57 (.281/.468/.544/1.011) with half of those hits going for extra bases (four doubles, one triple, three home runs).
• National League Most Valuable Player Voting Results from the BBWAA