St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt won the National League MVP award for the first time in his career, it was announced Thursday on the MLB Network.
Goldschmidt received 22 first-place votes and 380 points in balloting by 30 Baseball Writers Association of America voters. San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (291) received seven first-place votes and was second and the Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado (232) was third and received the other first-place vote.
“It’s a great honor. It isn’t just about me,” Goldschmidt said on the MLB Network. “it’s about the teammates that I have and the coaches and guys I played with in the past. I’ve learned a lot from a lot of different players and I think it means a lot to all of those people and I hope they know the effect they’ve had on my career.”
Goldschmidt has been MVP runner-up twice before (2013, 2015) and third another time (2017) during his eight seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But his fourth season with the Cardinals was the breakthrough campaign.
Goldschmidt, 35, led the National League in slugging (.578) and batted .317 with 35 homers, 115 RBIs and 106 runs.
The seven-time All-Star topped 30 homers for the seventh time in his career and the century mark for the fourth time.
“I want to find a way to still be a good or great player and find way to perform,” Goldschmidt said of moving toward the twilight of his career. “And try to win. Just find ways to get better as I get older.”
Goldschmidt’s achievement gives St. Louis an NL-most 18 MVP winners.
The other Cardinals to be named MVP include three-time winners Stan Musial (1943, 1946, 1948) and Albert Pujols (2005, 2008-09).
Winning once were Frankie Frisch (1931), Dizzy Dean (1934), Joe Medwick (1937), Mort Cooper (1942), Marty Marion (1944), Ken Boyer (1964), Orlando Cepeda (1967), Bob Gibson (1968), Joe Torre (1971), Keith Hernandez (1979, co-winner with Willie Stargell) and Willie McGee (1985).
Machado, 30, batted .298 with 32 homers and 102 RBIs while helping the Padres reach the NL Championship Series. He was the leader for San Diego after the club didn’t have star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. for the entire season.
The six-time All-Star recorded his sixth 30-homer campaign and topped 100 RBIs for the third time.
Arenado, 31, batted .293 with 30 homers and 103 RBIs and also won his 10th consecutive Gold Glove award.
The seven-time All-Star topped 30 homers and 100 RBIs in the same season for the seventh time.
Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (220) placed fourth and teammate Mookie Betts (154) was fifth.
–Field Level Media
