Is Justin Upton a Legitimate NL MVP Candidate?

Is Justin Upton a legitimate MVP candidate? Rumblings are emerging both locally and nationally that Upton’s name should be mentioned in the race.

Among all National League batters he’s 16th in batting average with .300, 14th in OBP with .372, and seventh in slugging with .552.

Additionally, Upton is first in the NL in doubles with 34, ninth in home runs with 25, 17th in stolen bases with 18 and 11th in RBI with 75.

While Upton’s stats rank among the best in the NL, there are still players with better numbers including Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, Matt Kemp and Shane Victorino who all have superior statistics.

But to take a literal meaning of the award, Upton probably is the most valuable player to his team of that group. Braun, Fielder, Holliday and Victorino all play on teams with plenty of complimentary talent around them. They are not the only one that provides the offense.

Upton leads the Diamondbacks in every major offensive category, average, home runs, RBI, OBP and hits.

Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun share dominance of the prominent offensive categories on the Brewers. The same is the case with Victorino and teammate Ryan Howard and Matt Holliday and his teammate Albert Pujols. Both Pujols and Howard are former MVPs themselves.

Matt Kemp is like Upton, in that he dominates every offensive category for his team. But with the Dodgers a non factor in the playoff race, Kemp will be viewed as a dark horse in the MVP race.

Taking the above into account, the Diamondbacks may actually have an MVP in right field.