SoCal sweep: Trout, Bellinger are MVPs
NEW YORK — It had never been so difficult for Mike Trout to arrive at the ballpark, get his mind and body ready, and perform at the level baseball fans have come to expect.
And still, nobody did it better in the American League.
Trout overcame injury and tragedy to win his third AL MVP award, getting 17 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America that was announced Thursday. Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros was second, and that duo combined for all the first- and second-place votes. Trout also won the award in 2014 and 2016.
“This year was probably the toughest year,” Trout said.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger made it a Southern California sweep, beating out the Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich for the National League prize. Bellinger received 19 of 30 first-place votes, Yelich got 10 and the Washington Nationals’ Anthony Rendon got the other while finishing third. Yelich won the award last year.
Trout had season-ending foot surgery in September while the Angels languished to a fourth-place division finish in the AL West. The outfielder played just 134 games but still set a career high with 45 home runs. He batted .291, led the majors with a .438 on-base percentage and drove in 104 runs.
The 28-year-old shined even after the death of close friend and teammate Tyler Skaggs on July 1. Trout smashed a 454foot homer wearing Skaggs’ No. 45 in the team’s first game back, when Angels pitchers threw a combined no-hitter.
After often deferring to veterans as a young star, Trout put himself into a leadership role after Skaggs’ death.
“It was my time,” Trout said, adding that “it was extremely tough mentally and emotionally for us at the end of the year.”
Trout is the 10th three-time MVP and joins an elite group: Yogi Berra, Barry Bonds, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Mike Schmidt. Bonds is the only player with more than three MVPs — he won seven — and only Musial was younger when he won his third.
Trout also has a record-tying four second-place finishes. He has been the winner or runner-up in seven of his eight full seasons.
The 24-year-old Bellinger and his loose, left-handed swing launched 47 home runs with a .305 average, 115 RBIs and a 1.035 on-base plus slugging percentage.
He was the best player on the NL’s top team in the regular season, propelling Los Angeles to 106 wins. He’s the 10th Dodger to win MVP and the first since pitcher Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
Bellinger teared up after learning he’d been chosen, saying it was the first time he had cried since the death of his first dog, Angel the golden retriever. He was especially emotional after hugging his father — former MLB player Clay Bellinger.
“He was just there for me every single day,” Cody said.
It was clear by midseason that Bellinger and Yelich were the favorites for the NL prize. Yelich had better offensive numbers, including a league-leading .329 average and a major leaguebest 1.100 OPS, but his season was cut short in September when he broke his right kneecap on a foul ball.
“I pretty much figured that once I got hurt that was a wrap on that, but I guess you never really know until the end. But that was my mindset. As soon as I got hurt, I figured all that MVP stuff went out the window,” Yelich said.
Said Bellinger: “I think he pushed me to be a better player.”