3 Reason why Miami Marlins Luis Arraez is the leading MVP Candidate and 2 reasons why he won't win

The Miami Marlins have a star and an MVP and if you don't know that already, you haven't been paying attention. Luis Arraez is in his first year with the Miami Marlins and is on his way to breaking records this season, and as such he should be the clear MVP of the National League right now, but is he? Here are three reasons why he should be the MVP leader and two reasons why he won't win.

Miami Marlins Luis Arraez NL MVP - Reason 2

The most popular and defining factor right now when people hear the name Luis Arraez is batting average, and justifiably so, as he is currently sitting at .401 on June 7th. Finally, the Major League Baseball community has taken notice, as seen below, Luis Arraez is chasing history when it comes to batting average. Only 13 times, according to ESPN.com, has a player ended a season hitting over .400, and three of those times was Ty Cobb and another three were Rogers Hornsby.

The next two highest batting averages in the National League belong to Freddie Freeman (.329) and Ronald Acuna (.329), which is a great average, yet it is nowhere close to Luis Arraez. That should immediately impress, even the casual fan.

Miami Marlins Luis Arraez NL MVP - Reason 3

Miami Marlins star Luis Arraez leads the National League in a few more offensive categories, strikeouts (lowest), on base percentage, and OPS+. Arraez sits at .451 for on base percentage, which is well above Ronald Acuna (.404) and Freddie Freeman (.402) who sit at fourth and fifth place in the league, respectively.

Arraez gets on base and this fact is highlighted by his league low 11 strikeouts (min 175 ABs) and the next closest person has at least 10 more strikeouts, and to further the comparison, Freddie Freeman has 44 and Ronald Acuna has 37. National League MVP should be leader Luis Arraez has a 161 OPS+ currently which is above Freddie Freeman (158) and Ronald Acuna (157).

Miami Marlins Luis Arraez National League MVP - Why not reason 1

The MLB pundits have already declared, despite his record breaking season, Luis Arraez shouldn't be the National League MVP because he just hits singles. We all know for fans and the highlight reels, singles don't make the cut, but now maybe Luis Arraez' will. Everyone loves a home run and so the first category that all the voters for MVP will look at is the home run category. Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna both are in double digits for home runs and the league leader is Pete Alonso with 22.

Arraez has one home run this year. He is not a home run hitter and his 5 foot 10 inch 175 pound frame isn't built for home runs. Now you might go run and say Jose Altuve is 5 foot 6 inches and I would agree but he has a very different swing. Arraez will never win a home run derby or battle, so he is out totally out of the conversation with regards to this measure.

Miami Marlins Luis Arraez National League MVP - Why not reason 2

The next big category and reason why Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez will not be considered for National League MVP is his team, their record, and their place among baseball big wigs. Miami is not the heralded long-time baseball land like New York or Boston or Los Angeles or Atlanta. Those are the places of baseball history and Miami is new on the scene and their standing in the playoff picture. Some analysts will argue that they must win it all or win their division to be considered for MVP and the Marlins have a tough roadblock in the Atlanta Braves to get to that point.

The second part to this final reason he won't be considered is the RBI ranking. The Miami Marlins don't score runs in bunches like other teams and they are currently tied for 14th in the National League and 25th overall. As such, Luis Arraez has only 30 RBI for the season which puts him well behind Freddie Freeman (39) and the league leader Pete Alonso (49). That is ok though, he doesn't have to lead every category but the sexy categories that the pundits look at he won't be in the conversation, and that inevitably could damage his chances at National League MVP.