The Braves' Freddie Freeman, who began the regular season working his way back into peak condition from a battle with COVID-19, ends it this week as one of the leading contenders for the National League's Most Valuable Player award.
If he wins the award, he would become just the fourth Braves player to be named the league MVP since the franchise moved to Atlanta in 1966 and the first in 21 years. Dale Murphy won back-to-back MVP awards in 1982 and 1983, and Terry Pendleton and Chipper Jones won the award in 1991 and 1999, respectively.
Jones weighed in on Freeman's candidacy over the weekend, tweeting a bunch of statistics that showed the Braves first baseman comparing favorably to other contenders. "For those of you who are on the fence or undecided as to who you would vote for," Jones wrote, "here are some numbers through 50 games, to help u out!"
The winner will be decided by 30 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, whose ballots are due before the start of the playoffs next week. The race appears close enough that what happens this week _ the final week of the shortened regular season _ could tilt the voters' decision, one way or another.
Freeman has finished in the top eight of the National League MVP voting four times in his decade in the league _ fifth in 2013, sixth in 2016, fourth in 2018 and eighth last year.
The four leading contenders for the award this season appear to be, in no particular order, Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts and two members of the San Diego Padres, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and third baseman Manny Machado.
Here's a look at those four candidates (all statistics are through Sunday's games):
