Lately, many in the national press have realized what most Colorado residents have noticed since last fall: Carlos Gonzalez is pretty awesome at baseball. But since the All-Star Break, what Gonzalez has done on the baseball diamond deserves the "darkhorse MVP" candidacy.
↵Normally, Colorado Rockies' hitters have trouble being taken seriously for season awards because of the Coors Field bias. But here are a few points that give Gonzalez an edge.
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- Pennants and awards are won in the second half of the season. In the last two weeks alone, Gonzalez has batted .500 with 8 HR and 15 RBI, and is carrying a hefty 1.646 OPS. ↵
- Gonzalez plays Gold Glove caliber defense at a premium defensive position, making his offensive production even more valuable. ↵
- Recent road trip. Cargo has produced at Coors, but has been very average away from home most of the season (until the Pittsburgh trip, where he put up decent numbers). If Gonzalez can keep up his latest momentum, he'll improve his case dramatically. ↵
- Voters love Triple Crown categories. As of this writing, he leads the National League in batting average, is tied for fourth in homeruns, and is fourth in runs batted in, even after batting leadoff for the first half of the season.
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Carlos Gonzalez would likely place in the Top 5 in MVP voting happened today, but the biggest help to his candidacy would be a serious playoff push by the Rockies in the next month. If Gonzalez is the player leading that charge, he may help himself to some hardware as well.
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