It’s Ronald Acuna Jr.’s world and we’re just living in it. With a little more than a month left in the 2023 MLB season, the Braves All-Star outfielder has the best odds by far to win the National League Cy Young Award thanks to a .331/.417/.569 slash line with 28 home runs, 74 RBIs and a league-leading 56 stolen bases. But that doesn’t mean that things can’t change. A lot can happen in a month. Acuna could cool off. Someone could get hot. An injury or roster decision can change the tenor of a season. Don’t believe us? A month ago, Acuna was -1000 to win the National League MVP. Now his odds have shrunk to -400.
As September looms, let’s take another look at the National League MVP race, with odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Updated NL MVP odds as of Tuesday, August 22
Ronald Acuna Jr -400 Freddie Freeman +600 Mookie Betts +600
Matt Olson +2500 Bryce Harper +15000 Fernando Tatis Jr. +15000
Sean Murphy +15000 Will Smith +15000 Juan Soto +15000
Luis Arraez +15000 Cody Bellinger +15000 Christian Yelich +20000
As mentioned above, Acuna Jr. has put together an incredible season in what’s been his first fully-healthy campaign in two years, but the top tier of the National League has matched him step for step of late. Betts leads the NL in OPS (.989) and is one home run away from tying his single-season career high that he set last season. Freeman’s slugged 45 doubles ( the most in baseball) and leads in the NL in OPS+ (163), total bases (280) and intentional walks (9), while Olson leads all of baseball in home runs (43) and RBIs (108).
NL MVP race: Takeaways and best bets
Mookie Betts, Dodgers (+600)
A former MVP in the American League, Betts has already surpassed his numbers from last season when he finished in fifth in NL MVP voting. Betts has smashed 11 leadoff home runs this year (which is a new Dodger record) and looks like a lock to tally his first career 40-homer season. Betts has also improved on his batting average from last season by 40 points, and could finish the season with a .300 batting average. If Betts clears 30 home runs and 120 RBIs with a .300 batting average, then he’ll have a genuine MVP case that could rival Acuna.
Matt Olson, Braves (+2500)
Olson’s already set a career-high in home runs and is four RBI from setting a career-high in runs driven in — and it still isn’t September. The 29-year-old already earned his first Braves All-Star nod this season, and has gotten better as the season has gone on, as he hit .325 in July and is batting .309 in August with eight home runs (so far). Ironically, the person he’s driven in the most this season (aside from himself) is Acuna, which is a testament to the work Acuna does at the top of the Braves order. If Olson keeps up his pace, there’s a chance he could reach the 60-home run, 140-RBI plateau, which would put him in revered company — and, if Acuna tails off, give him a solid chance and working his way into the MVP conversation.
