Verlander wins his 23rd, and his 11th start in a row.

Verlander wins his 23rd, and his 11th start in a row.

He gave up no runs, thus lowering his ERA to 2.36. He has not only pulled away from the pack in the Cy Young competition, but is making a pretty strong MVP case. Based on Wins Above Replacement, he's running neck and neck with Bautista. I have not studied the issue very thoroughly, but I would not be surprised to see Verlander win the MVP if he wins 25 games. There has not been a 25-game winner in the last two decades and there has only been one (Bob Welch) in the 30+ years since Steve Stone pulled off his 1980 miracle season. Welch and Stone both did it in the AL. The last National Leaguer to win 25 or more was Steve Carlton. The last right-hander to win 25 in the NL was Tom Seaver. In other words, it's been a while for the National League. (The Big Unit came close by spinning a 24-5 record in 2002.)

Matt Kemp is leading the NL in that WAR category by a mile, but I don't expect him to win the MVP because the Dodgers suck. Yeah, I know that's not his fault, but that's how many voters think. The next best candidate is Ryan Braun, but he'll split votes with Fielder, who is just about equally valuable, if not quite as complete a player. That might leave some room for another complete player, Justin Upton, to sneak in, since he's just about the entire D-Back offense. Seems like a toss-up as of now, maybe a slight edge to Braun. Braun is now see-sawing against Reyes for the league lead in batting average. If he wins the batting championship, that might give him the extra visibility necessary to catch the eyes of the MVP voters.