Red Sox MVP candidates face their competition with Cleveland Indians in town
By Sean Penney
MVP candidates collide when Boston Red Sox stars Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez meet the Cleveland Indians duo of Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.
The Boston Red Sox host the Cleveland Indians for a four-game series at Fenway Park this week, giving us our first opportunity to watch the top American League MVP candidates go head-to-head.
This series will be loaded with star power. The two most recent AL Cy Young award winners square off to open the series, providing an enticing appetizer. However, the focus will be on this year’s MVP race.
We want our MVP to come from a winning team. That won’t be a problem if you’re scouting this series. Boston leads the majors at 88-37, putting them on pace for a franchise record for wins in a season. They may even challenge the major league record of 116 wins. That alone is reason enough to strongly consider a Red Sox player for MVP.
Cleveland is another team on the short list of contenders. Their 71-52 record pales in comparison to Boston’s yet they have a commanding 12 game lead over the Minnesota Twins in their division. They can essentially stamp their ticket to the postseason.
Four of the top six AL position players in Baseball-Reference’s version of WAR will headline the series. One of those stars seems certain to take home the hardware at the end of the season.