Brewers' star Christian Yelich wins 2018 NL MVP honors

Thursday, MLB culminated a four-day stretch of naming the winners of the four major individual awards with the two league Most Valuable Player awards. In the NL vote, Christian Yelich of the Brewers beat out Javier Baez of the Cubs and Nolan Arenado of the Rockies. The AL MVP will be announced before 7 p.m. ET.

Yelich was a great story. He was acquired by the Brewers via trade the same night they signed Lorenzo Cain. Yelich has always been good, but he was never exceptional until arriving with the Brewers. He hit .326/.402/.598 (164 OPS+) with 34 doubles, seven triples, 36 homers, 110 RBI, 118 runs, 22 steals, 7.6 WAR and 11 Defensive Runs Saved in right field.

Yelich finished with the best stat line in the NL, but he wasn't even one of the top candidates in mid-August. From August 17 to the end of the season, Yelich hit .373/.481/.833(!) with 18 homers and 50 RBI in 40 games. In the meantime, the Brewers -- despite being six games back on August 28 and four back on September 7 -- ran down the Cubs for the NL Central title and best record in the NL. Yelich probably wins anyway, but the Brewers winning the NL Central tiebreaker over the Cubs surely cemented the award.

Baez also was a great story. Heading into the year, we could have named more than a handful of players on the Cubs more likely to be in MVP consideration. He busted out with a major breakthrough season, hitting .290/.326/.554 (126 OPS+) with 40 doubles, nine triples, 34 homers, 111 RBI, 21 steals, 6.3 WAR, good defense at second, short AND third and the most fun highlight reel of any player in baseball.

For a while, it looked like Arenado's best chance ever at an MVP after finishing eighth, fifth and fourth, respectively, the past three seasons. He had another great year at .297/.374/.561 (OPS+ of 133) with 38 doubles, 38 homers and 110 RBI, but his 5.6 WAR was his lowest since 2014. His RBI total was 20+ lower than each of the previous three seasons. Still, the field being weaker than in past years led to his best finish yet.

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