Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun among the five nominees for NL MVP 2012 – MLB News
The Baseball Writers' Association of America has announced the names of nominees for the 2012 National League Most Valuable Player Award. Among the Top 5 is the Milwaukee Brewers' accomplished slugger Ryan Braun.
San Diego Padres’ Chase Headley, Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen, St. Louis Cardinals’ Yadier Molina and World Series champion San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey are among four other nominees.
The National League Most Valuable Player Award will be decided through the voting that takes place before the post-season and is announced after the World Series. While Ryan Braun statistically remains superior, the final result – to be announced on November 15, will expectedly have all the elements of surprise.
Braun encountered a number of odds this season; fighting all kind of adversities with poise and resoluteness. While his team could not make its mark this time round – failing to qualify for the post-season, his individual performance was simply superb.
Before the beginning of the Major League Baseball 2012, reports surfaced indicating that the player had tested positive for an elevated level of testosterone caused by a performance enhancing drug. That was a setback for the player and the team – possibly resulting in Braun’s 50-game suspension.
However, Braun won the appeal as he had disputed the results of the positive result – becoming the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to successfully challenge a drug test.
As he was back on the field, the left fielder once again outshone the rivals with his superiority in virtually every department of the game. In 154 appearances, he smashed 41 home-runs which was the highest in the National League.
Maintaining a .986 OPS and .595 slugging percentage, he topped the NL with batting average of .319 which was third. 112 RBIs also put him second in the league, making him a favourite candidate for the NL MVP 2012.
Ryan Braun will find a tough rival in Buster Posey for the NL MVP 2012. However, it will all depend on the first place votes. That which goes to Posey’s advantage, however, is the extraordinary feat he exhibited in post-season games, while the Brewers could not make it there.
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