Chicago Cubs: Who will be our 2019 MVP?

Last season, Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Baez just missed the NL Most Valuable Player award. In my way too early prediction: Who will rise to the occasion in 2019?

If there’s one thing that Chicago Cubs fans love to talk about, it’s the MVP. And that’s a good thing, cause it wasn’t that many years ago we were even in contention for the MVP. So maybe the fans are a little spoiled (yea we know they are), but that doesn’t mean we can’t ponder who might have a breakout year and possibly get nominated for the NL MVP.

Before we talk candidates, let’s take a look at what makes a superior MVP candidate. The first discriminator that baseball analysts like to use for their MVP prospects is, “Who is hitting the ball?”

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Remember last year, whenever talk of the NL MVP surfaced, the first thing announcers did was pull the current batting stats. Last season, it was a constant batting comparison of the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder, Christian Yelich and the Javier Baez from the Chicago Cubs.

The battle went down to the wire.   Those players who are hitting the ball regularly and putting up top stats will set the pace among the handful that may rise to the occasion this season. Analysts keep track of where everyone is hitting in the league and will start with minor predictions as the season begins.

Of course, huge home run and base hit totals will put any candidate toward the top. To a lesser degree, the defensive stops or the highlight antics of players with few errors will also hold some weight in getting mentioned and later narrowing down the field.

Last season, everyone was quick to point out that Yelich had no errors in right field the whole season. He did, however, have two errors in center field and one in left field, but again low numbers – nothing significant to hold up a nomination for NL MVP which he eventually won.

Unless they can out-do their past performances, I don’t think Bryant or Baez has the chance to make it this year. Of course, Baez is always the wild card and those who bet against him usually lose but the Chicago Cubs had some great starters last year that should really blossom this year. Here’s who I would keep my eye on for a Cubs NL MVP chance in 2019.

Willson Contreras, Catcher

Like most of the Cubs last year, Contreras had a bad season with the bat. His home runs were nearly cut in half from his (21) in 2017 to just 10 last season. His slugger percentages also took a big dip going from .499 in 2017 to .390 last year. What looks bright for Contreras is that he had 118 hits last season and that’s 14 more than in 2017. We know he has the arm, can make great plays at the plate and if he can increase his hits to the 150s and HR’s to 30 or more, this could be Contreras’ biggest season with the Chicago Cubs.

Kyle Schwarber, Outfielder

Similar to Contreras, Schwarber also slightly increased his hits last year but went down in HRs. The good sign about Schwarber’s numbers are that OBP, and OPS both went up last season from (.356 / .823) compared to 2017 at (.315 /.782) and his SLG percentages stayed the same from 2017 at (.467).

Schwarber will be a great gauge to see how well the Cubs are adapting to their new hitting strategies and if he is putting the ball in play, expect Schwarber to reach those 40 Home Runs finally. His outfield play for part of last season was among the best in the league. Schwarber may just breakout this season and be in contention for the NL MVP.

I’m not crazy enough to discount Kris Bryant or Baez from contention, especially in this every-game-counts mindset the Cubs are starting the season with. Like everyone else, we want to see where the Cubs bats are this season and if those two Cubs can get the wood cracking, we may just see two Cubs in the running for NL MVP.

And what’s wrong with that?