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Mookie Betts could not conceive a much more perfect dream season: a batting title, a 30/30 campaign, a World Series championship and now the AHL MVP trophy.
The unassuming star of the Boston Red Sox hit .346 with 32 home runs and 30 stolen goals. He won a Gold Glove in the right field, led the majors in slugging percentage and AL in extra-base success, tied for the championship lead with 129 points scored and dominated the Los Angeles Mike Trout. Angels and the Cleveland Indians capture MVP honors.
"Yeah, it was a pretty good year in 2018," said Betts on the MLB network.
The Red Sox's first MVP since Dustin Pedroia in 2008, Betts broke the door, largely accounting for the Red Sox's 17-2 start. Until May 26, he hit .359 with 17 runs at home and slabging .750, a sequence that included two home matches of three homers.
He then missed two weeks due to abdominal tension, which puts his season in an even more impressive context since he played only 136 games, the least for a player in the position of most useful player since that Josh Hamilton played 133 in 2010.
The vote was unanimous. Betts has won 28 of the 30 first place votes and is ranked second on the last two.
Several other LA players have had tremendous seasons, creating one of the deepest candidate fields ever seen. The five-position players finished with at least 7.9 WAR, the first time in LA since 1912. (The National League had six in 2004 and five in 1964.)
Trout was one of those five players, compiling 10.2 WAR while hitting .312 with 39 homers and leading majors with a .460 percentage on base and 1,088 OPS. If the Angels had reached the playoffs, the vote might have been tighter, but as the team was again under the .500 mark, Trout finished second for the fourth time in his career, having won two trophies.
Trout's MVP finish series is historically impressive. His fourth place last year – when he played 114 games – was his worst in seven seasons. He joined Lou Gehrig (1931-1937) and Yogi Berra (1950-1956) as the only players to rank seven times in the top five consecutive MVP polls.
Ramirez finished third for the second year in a row. He was at the feet of Betts and Trout until August 14, when the second baseman of the Indians was hit by .305 / .414 / .640 with 36 homers and 89 RBIs. But he only hit .166 with three home runs in his last 40 games and finished at 7.9 WAR. He joined Betts in the club 30/30; they are the first players to reach this milestone since Trout and Ryan Braun in 2012.
Despite everything, there has been throughout the summer a lively debate on the MVP in Boston about Betts and Martinez, with the belief that Martinez's presence in the Boston formation had helped to make everything the world better. His team-mate David Price may have summed it up better by stating in September that "Mookie is the MVP of the league, but Martinez is the MVP of Boston."
In the end, the voters rewarded the brilliant total of Betts. He also finished with a higher percentage of underpants and OBP than Martinez, who, it should be noted, took advantage of the presence of Betts so often in front of him.
In case of persistent doubt about Betts' honor, know that he got an average of .415 / .506 / .738 with 22 points in 17 games against the Yankees. He played his best against the team as the Red Sox had to beat for the division title.
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