NL MVP ranking: 2. Max Muncy
Max Muncy has Bryce Harper beat in the counting stats while Harper has Muncy beat in both batting average and OPS. Muncy is tied in fWAR, and a far bigger advantage when it comes to bWAR (5.4 compared to 3.9).
Personally, I value FanGraphs’ WAR over Baseball-Reference WAR as their calculations seem to be more indicative of how good players really are, so this has nothing to do with Muncy’s massive lead according to Baseball-Reference.
It is something that is so cliche that baseball fans might be sick of but it does hold some truth to it. Muncy is currently the best player on the second-best team in the league that is undoubtedly going to make the playoffs with the question being whether or not the San Francisco Giants will give in.
Harper is on a team that is five games out of the playoff picture no matter which way you slice it. Could the Phillies make the playoffs? Yes. But it would take a fantastic last season to do so. If Harper can will the Phillies to the playoffs then he probably surpasses Muncy and Tatis on this list.
But as it stands right now, he and the Phillies have a big gap while the Dodgers are a guarantee to make the playoffs.
That matters. Yes, there are exceptions. Mike Trout is incredible and is so much better than everyone else that he has won three MVPs. His Angels teammate, Shohei Ohtani, is the favorite to win this year but he is literally doing things that have never been done.
When the numbers are this close it is fair to revert to team success. Muncy has Harper beat in that department and it isn’t necessarily Harper’s fault.