Dodgers Dugout: Who is the MVP of the Dodgers this season?

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I’m still waiting for Chad Fonville bobblehead night.

MVP

The Dodgers are cruising to a division title, and many fans are debating who is the team MVP. The three major candidates are Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Justin Turner. Let’s compare them.

Batting average

Turner .346

Seager .307

Bellinger .274

OB%

Turner .436

Seager .398

Bellinger .351

SLG%

Bellinger .620

Turner .573

Seager .518

OPS+

Turner 163

Bellinger 148

Seager 139

Dodgers record when that player plays

Bellinger 74-23

Turner 65-26

Seager 76-32

Batting with runners in scoring position

Seager .360/.479/.600

Turner .314/.455/.471

Bellinger .298/.419/.681

Batting with two out and runners in scoring position

Seager .387/.513/.774

Turner .288/.486/.480

Bellinger .188/.361/.396

WAR

Seager 4.9

Turner 4.8

Bellinger 3.7

Toughest defensive position

Seager (shortstop)

Turner (third base)

Bellinger (first base)

There are many other stats to look at, too. Homers, RBIs, defensive metrics, etc.

Seager has played the full season, while Turner and Bellinger have missed about a month with either an injury or being in the minors. Bellinger gave the Dodgers a huge lift and they have been a different team since he joined the lineup. He leads the team in homers and RBIs. Turner leads the league in batting average. Seager has been there every day, plays a tough position well and has better clutch stats.

A lot depends on what you mean by MVP. Is it supposed to go to the best player or should it go to the player who meant the most to his team? Kirk Gibson was named MVP in 1988, even though several other players in the league had better stats. But if you followed the Dodgers in ’88, there was no doubt that Gibson was the MVP.

Taking everything into account, and going with the theory that the award goes to the player who meant the most to his team, not just the best hitter (after all, they have the Silver Slugger award for best hitters) here’s my Dodgers MVP ballot:

1. Bellinger

2. Turner

3. Seager

But it’s awfully close, and it’s nice as a Dodgers fan to have to consider three guys carefully for something like this.

Best record

The Dodgers are 83-34 and lead the NL West by about a billion games. Their 83-34 start is one of the best starts in major league history (since 1901). The best starts by other teams (teams that won the World Series are bolded):

AL West

A’s, 84-32-1 (1931) Lost in World Series

Seattle, 84-33 (2001) Lost in playoffs

Angels, 74-43 (2008) Lost in playoffs

Houston, 72-45 (2017)

Texas, 69-48 (2016) Lost in playoffs

AL Central

Cleveland, 82-33-2 (1954) Lost World Series

Minnesota, 77-39-1 (1933) Lost World Series

Detroit, 77-40 (1934) Lost in World Series

Kansas City, 75-42 (1980) Lost in World Series

Chicago, 75-42 (1919) Lost in World Series

AL East

New York, 88-29 (1998) Won World Series

Baltimore, 82-35 (1969) Lost World Series

Boston, 81-34-2 (1946) Lost in World Series

Tampa Bay, 71-46 (2008 and 2010) Lost in playoffs both yearsToronto, 73-44 (1985) Lost in playoffs

NL West

Dodgers, 83-34

Giants, 83-33-1 (1905) Won World Series

San Diego, 76-42 (1998) Lost World Series

Arizona, 72-45 (2002) Lost in playoffs

Colorado, 65-52 (2017)

NL Central

Pittsburgh, 86-29 (1902) No playoffs that year

St. Louis, 86-29-2 (1944) Won World Series

Chicago, 85-31-1 (1907) Won World Series

Cincinnati, 81-36 (1919) Won World Series

Milwaukee, 68-48-1 (1982) Lost World Series

NL East

Atlanta, 78-39 (1998) Lost in playoffsPhiladelphia, 77-40 (1976 and 2011), Lost in playoffs both times

New York, 76-41 (1986) Won World Series

Washington, 72-45 (2012) Lost in playoffs

Miami, 68-49 (1997) Won World Series

So as you can see, seven of the 27 teams (three teams have had their best record this season) have gone on to win the World Series. Will this year make it eight of 30?

In case you missed it

Since July 29, Joc Pederson is one for 35 (.029 average). He still plays good defense, and with their massive lead, the team can afford to give him time to work his way out of this, but if it continues much longer, I would not be surprised to see Chris Taylor move to center full time, especially when Adrian Gonzalez returns.

What about Puig?

Since moving to the eighth spot in the batting order, Yasiel Puig is hitting .278/.362/.546 with 14 home runs and 32 RBIs in 194 at-bats. Projected over a full season, that would be 41 homers and 93 RBIs.

Next series

Tuesday, 7 p.m. PT, Chicago White Sox (Miguel Gonzalez, 6-10, 4.85) at Dodgers (Alex Wood, 14-1, 2.37)

Wednesday, 7 p.m. PT, Chicago White Sox (Carlos Rodon, 1-4, 4.24) at Dodgers (Yu Darvish, 8-9, 3.81 overall; 2-0, 1.50 with Dodgers)

Note: Pitchers are subject to change.

Reminder

For those of you living in the L.A. area, six more Dodger games will be on KTLA Ch. 5 this season. All of them will be on a Tuesday. They are:

Aug. 22, 4 p.m. at Pittsburgh

Aug. 29, 6:30 p.m. at Arizona

Sept. 5, 7 p.m. vs. Arizona

Sept. 12, 7:15 p.m. at San Francisco

Sept. 19, 4 p.m. at Philadelphia

Sept. 26, 7 p.m. vs. San Diego

And finally

Brian Holton, the forgotten member of the 1988 team, is trying to put his life back together. Read all about it here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston

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Twitter: @latimeshouston