Ryan Braun 2011 NL MVP: 5 Reasons This Is a Great Decision by Baseball Writers

This year’s MVP races were not the most memorable or competitive in recent memory.  Despite the fact that there were great performances by several players, there was no clear-cut winner in either league, which is what opened up the historical and unique win by the Tigers Justin Verlander in the AL.

In the NL, there was Matt Kemp that put up Triple Crown-type numbers slightly under the radar in Los Angeles, if that is possible, and Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder powered the Brewers to a special run in 2011 including a division championship.  Young Justin Upton also put up great numbers, but in the end, the media decided that Ryan Braun was the winner of the 2011 award.

It seems like there has been some backlash, as Matt Kemp was favored to win the award, but I feel that the right person took home the award due mostly to the impact he had on his team and his impressive versatility.  Some may argue that Braun benefits from playing with and batting in front of the second runner-up for MVP Prince Fielder, but in the end, I challenge you to find a player who was hotter longer when it counted this season than Ryan Braun.

The Brewers had a very special season this year, and Braun was a big part of that.  Here are five key reasons as to why this is a great decision by the media.

5. It Is Very Arguable That Braun Had a Comparable Year Statistically

It’s no secret that Matt Kemp had a great all around season this year, and was well-positioned to make a serious run at the Triple Crown at the end of the season, but for Braun as a power hitter to bat over .330, steal a significant amount of bases and put up significant power stats was awfully impressive. 

Braun batted .332 with 33 HR and 111 RBI.  That is an MVP-quality season for sure.  His on-base percentage was just short of .400, which is impressive for a power hitter.  Throw in 33 SB, a .998 OPS and a near-.600 slugging percentage and you’d be hard-pressed any year to find a more well-rounded stat line from one player in a year. 

Matt Kemp on the other hand, batted .324 with 39 HR and 126 RBI with pretty similar OPS, on-base and slugging numbers.  Kemp clearly has MVP numbers as well, but it’s not a blowout in his favor.

4. Kemp Did His Work on a Far Inferior Team Way Outside of the Pennant Race

As just mentioned, Kemp had a great season, but he played for the LA Dodgers.  Generally, that would be an advantage, but this year, not only was Dodger news dominated by their ugly ownership drama and sale, but they also finished 82-79.  They finished 11.5 games out in the NL West and eight games out of the Wild Card. 

It is hard to justify giving an MVP award to a player on a team that was so irrelevant in the big picture as the Dodgers were, unless he is head and shoulders above everyone else.

3. Braun’s Clutch Stats Were Great...Better Than Kemps

This is a bit subjective because I have seen a lot more Brewers games than Dodgers games this year, and know that Braun has a storied history of big home runs, but there are some stats to back it up as well.  Combined with the fact that Braun played in games that were more pressure-packed on an almost nightly basis as a result of being in a pennant race, he also boasted a decent Clutch stat of 0.26 according to Fangraphs.com. 

An average stat in this posting in this category is between minus-one and one, so given how carefully he is pitched to in general, that is pretty good.  On the other hand, Matt Kemp was not quite as proficient at -0.51.  He has been below zero for his whole career while Braun has been over zero in three of his five years. 

Again, not a huge disparity, but some credit must be given to Braun for being more productive in high-pressure situations and having to deal with more pressure theoretically in these at-bats given the Brewers were in a pennant race and the Dodgers were not.

2. Braun’s Post-All-Star Game Stats Were Phenomenal When It Mattered Most

Ryan Braun was phenomenal down the stretch this season.  During the most crucial time of the season from August until the end of September, Braun was on fire!  The Brewers were in a pennant race and a battle to see who would have home-field advantage in their Division Series first-round matchup. 

Since the All-Star break, Braun batted .346 with 17 HR and 49 RBI.  His slugging percentage was an impressive .642 and his OPS was an almost Barry Bonds-like 1.034.  Out of batters with more than 200 ABs after the break, no player in the NL had a better slugging percentage.  Only Mike Napoli was hotter in the AL. 

He also had the second-best batting average and OPS in the NL behind Troy Tulowitzki after the break among hitters with more than 200 at-bats as well. 

Matt Kemp, on the other hand, was not quite as hot as Braun after the break posting .330, 17 HR and 63 RBI under much less pressure than Braun had in the middle of a pennant race.  His slugging number was .590 and his OPS was .990.  Both cannot be classified in any way as a letdown but not quite as impressive as Braun was in more meaningful situations.

1. Braun Led a Playoff Team

At the end of the day, in most of the major team sports in America, individual performances are hallowed and respected, but in order to be considered great or memorable, often they much be combined with quality team performance as well.  While Matt Kemp’s numbers were very impressive and MVP-worthy, it is simply hard and foolish to ignore the fact that his team did not factor in this year’s pennant races.

On the other hand, Ryan Braun played a big part in leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a NL Central crown and an appearance in the NLCS.  Stats and performance are No. 1 of course, but there is no way you can downplay the importance of the effect a player has on his team and his ability to will a team to play at a high level. 

Kemp’s outstanding performance this year barely got the Dodgers over .500, while Braun’s team approached 100 victories.  Sure the Dodgers don’t have quite the talent that the Brewers have, but it’s not a night-and-day comparison.  And also, Braun does have another superstar playing with him, but his performance says it all and surely correlates with his team’s success.