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The Total Runs Leaderboard and the MVP Race
Posted by John Dewan on Sep 27th 2017
The Total Runs Leaderboard and the MVP Race
September 27, 2017
As the 2017 regular season winds down, the debate over major league awards like Most Valuable Player (MVP) will intensify. With that in mind let’s take a look at the MVP race using the Total Runs leaderboard. Total Runs is a statistic created by Baseball Info Solutions that combines offense, defense, baserunning, and an adjustment that allows for comparison across positions into one number in order to evaluate the total contribution of each player*.
| American League Total Runs Leaders | ||
| Player | Total Runs | |
| Aaron Judge, NYY | 158 | |
| Mookie Betts, Bos | 156 | |
| Jose Altuve, Hou | 154 | |
| Francisco Lindor, Cle | 146 | |
| Andrelton Simmons, LAA | 146 | |
| Jose Ramirez, Cle | 145 | |
| Note: through games of September 26 | ||
Let’s start with the American League (AL) Total Runs Leaderboard. Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez have had tremendous seasons on an Indians team that has refused to lose consecutive games for well over a month now; Aaron Judge has shattered the AL rookie home run record to go along with a first half performance that saw him have an OPS of 1.139; while Jose Altuve has been the most consistent player on a Houston Astros team that has a chance to win 100 games for the first time since 1998. The remaining two players on the AL Total Runs Leaderboard, Mookie Betts and Andrelton Simmons, aren’t quite as obvious. While the other AL Total Runs leaders are offensive monsters, Betts and Simmons derive much of their value through their sublime defense. Simmons and Betts rank first and second in 2017 Defensive Runs Saved with 33 and 31 runs, respectively, providing their teams excellent defense on a nightly basis.
| National League Total Runs Leaders | |||
| Player | Total Runs | ||
| Charlie Blackmon, Col | 167 | ||
| Nolan Arenado, Col | 162 | ||
| Giancarlo Stanton, Mia | 152 | ||
| Kris Bryant, ChC | 149 | ||
| Paul Goldschmidt, Ari | 145 | ||
| Joey Votto, Cin | 144 | ||
| Note: through games of September 26 | |||
A pair of Colorado Rockies pace the top of the National League (NL) Total Runs Leaderboard. Nolan Arenado, who ranked first in NL Total Runs in 2016, has had another excellent all-around season in 2017. However, this year Arenado isn’t even the highest-rated player on his team. Charlie Blackmon has had an unbelievable season, ranking first in the major leagues in Runs Created and Total Runs. Potential 60-home run hitter Giancarlo Stanton ranks third on the NL Total Runs Leaderboard on the strength of his second half OPS of 1.093. Defending NL MVP Kris Bryant ranks just below Stanton in the rankings, while two stellar first basemen, Paul Goldschmidt and Joey Votto, round out the top six in NL Total Runs.
*Please note: Runs Created, the offensive component included in Total Runs, is not park adjusted