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Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant was announced as the National League’s Most Valuable Player earlier this evening according to the BBWAA; he was very well-deserving of the honor and congratulations to him. But more importantly, Ryan Braun of our own Milwaukee Brewers received two 10th place votes and his two points tied him with Kyle Hendricks and Yadier Molina for 23rd place in the MVP balloting.
2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant, Cubs. More details on voting to come pic.twitter.com/vbHztcjCUG
— BBWAA (@officialBBWAA) November 17, 2016
Braun appeared in 135 games in 2016, accruing 564 plate appearance while posting a .305/.365/.538 slash line. He slugged 30 home runs (the sixth time in his career that he’s reached the 30 homer mark) along with 23 doubles and 3 triples, stole 16 bases, drove in 91 runs and scored 80 times. Braun’s 133 wRC+ ranked 11th among qualified NL hitters and third among NL outfielders. A move back to left field lead to improved defensive contributions according to the metrics and The Hebrew Hammer was worth 3.8 composite WAR.
Today was Ryan’s 33rd birthday and he is under team control for another four seasons and a total of $76 mil, but rumors have been circulating since the summer that he could possibly be traded during the offseason.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs