Who's the NL MVP?

While I rant at times about the useless stats that get thrown around in professional commentary such as winning percentage with a full moon, completion percentage against left handed corners, etc.; there are others that we live and die by as sports fans. Turnover ratio in football, shooting percentage in basketball, batting average in baseball, hot dogs per minute in professional eating. It is with the most essential baseball stats in mind, that I present the case for each of the three primary MVP candidates in the National League.

1. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
Utley is having a career year and it's only the start of June. With another home run tonight, Utley brought his MLB leading total to 21 home runs to compliment his .320 batting average and NL-leading 52 RBI. Utley is also slugging an impressive .680 and is the driving force behind the first place Phillies. While Utley's success translates very well into numbers, he is also carrying the Phillies to victories right now and is covering for some of his slumping teammates, like Ryan Howard who has 80 strikeouts and a .209 batting average.

2. Lance Berkman, Houston Astros
While Houston isn't enjoying the same success as Philadelphia, Berkman may be playing an even larger part in his team's results than Chase Utley. With a .385 batting average, Berkman is showing he's not limited to pure power productions and the "Big Puma" is living up to his reputation of driving the ball deep. With 17 home runs and 47 RBI, he trails only the aforementioned Utley for the national league lead. Berkman is also showing his versatility by stealing 10 bases already, ranking him in the top 10 in nearly every measurable category on offense. To pose himself as a triple crown threat, Berkman also ranks second in batting average behind our third legitimate MVP contender, Chipper Jones.

3. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves
Chipper Jones is batting .407. I don't know how much I need to say beyond that. It is getting a little too late in the season to be batting over .400 and Chipper even has Tony Gwinn talking up his accomplishments to this point. If it weren't for Chipper, the ridiculous numbers being put up by Lance Berkman would be shining even brighter. While Jones' average gets the spotlight, he has still driven 12 home runs and batted in 35 RBI. As the only previous MVP winner, Jones can pull from his experience in 1999 on how to maintain numbers down the stretch as in that year he hit 45 HRs, 110 RBI and batted .319.

The season is still young and the massive numbers always have a tendency to level out during the course of a 162 game schedule, but to this point Utley, Berkman and Jones have looked incredibly impressive and each deserving of the distinguishing award. Before these three become complacent however, there are a few more players on the fringe that will be looking to jump into the mix.

In no particular order:
-Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, Aramis Rameriez
-Brandon Webb
-Albert Puljos, Ryan Ludwick
-Dan Uggla
-Ryan Braun

At this point in the season, I can't help but vote for Berkman. I know the Astros aren't leading the division, but Berkman has looked like a men among boys at this point and is getting it done in all areas of his game. That said, Utley is heating up more than slowing down and Chipper Jones will not go quietly, especially if he can maintain his insane batting average for much of the season. The Cubs are the best team in baseball and have three talented hitters in addition to Fukudome, Soto and Theriot who are all contributing quietly. Dan Uggla's pursuit may be over if the Marlins can't stay competitive and slip down the standings in the NL East. Ryan Braun is picking up where he left off a year ago but is the victim of a mediocre team with relatively no national press. Brandon Webb has the supreme disadvantage of being a pitcher while Albert Puljos and Ryan Ludwick aren't standing out against the likes of the top three players listed.

My sleeper pick for the MVP has to be Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano is looking to improve to 8-2 tonight and is batting .366 on the season now. There are few pitchers that present nearly the type of threat that Zambrano represent at the plate each at bat.

The season is young and the NL MVP is certain to finish the year with some amazing statistics. Hopefully baseball gets the sport cleaned up so these numbers don't get marked with an asterisk that shouldn't apply.