Although he has come close many times, this is the first MVP award for the veteran, who just turned 35 in September. While he’s older than most players’ typical prime years, he had arguably the best campaign of his career in 2022. He hit 35 home runs and produced a .317/.404/.578 slash line. That production was an incredible 77% better than the league average hitter, as evidenced by his 177 wRC+. When combined with his solid defense at first base, he was deemed worth 7.1 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs and 7.8 in Baseball Reference’s estimation. More to come.
