Chicago Cubs: Did Javier Baez lose the MVP or did Christian Yelich win it?

With just weeks left in the season, Chicago Cubs star Javier Baez stood poised to win an MVP award. Instead, Christian Yelich stormed past him down the stretch.

Javier Baez had an outstanding regular season for the Chicago Cubs, setting career-highs in nearly every offensive category. On the year he led the National League with 111 runs batted in, while hitting 34 home runs. He posted a .290 batting average and led the Cubs with 101 runs, 40 doubles and nine triples. The All-Star middle infielder also posted a 5.5 WAR – good for the fifth-best in the NL.

That’s just what Baez brings to the table offensively. Where he makes maybe an even bigger impact is with his glove, performing highlights all over the field. This season he appeared in 104 games at second base, 64 games at shortstop and 22 games at third base. On the year he had a fielding percentage of .974, making just 17 errors all season.

Plain and simple, Baez was the Cubs’ do-it-all superstar this season and it’s hard to imagine where they’d be without him. He carried this team on his back while Kris Bryant dealt with injuries, Willson Contreras struggled to find his groove and Addison Russell dealt with off-field issues. The one constant this season for the Cubs has been Baez.