Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu of Cruces, Cuba, and Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman of Villa Park, CA have won the 2020 American League and National League most valuable player awards respectively. Even though Freeman is a native of California, he represents his parents’ home nation of Canada in international baseball competition.
Abreu batted .317 with 19 home runs and 60 runs batted in during the 2020 season. In 60 games and 262 plate appearances, Abreu scored 43 runs, and had 76 hits, 15 doubles, 18 walks, 148 total bases, one sacrifice fly, an on base percentage of .370, and a slugging percentage of .617. Abreu led the Major Leagues with 60 runs batted in and 148 total bases, and led the American League with 76 hits and a .617 slugging percentage.
This was Abreu’s second major individual award in his career. In 2014, he won the American League rookie of the year with the White Sox. That season he led the Major Leagues with a .581 slugging percentage.
Abreu was the clear winner of the AL MVP award, as he won 21 of 30 first place votes. Jose Ramirez, the third baseman of the Cleveland Indians was second with eight first place votes, and New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu was third with one first place vote.
It will now be interesting to see how Abreu connects with new White Sox manager Tony LaRussa. This past week the Chicago skipper made headlines for all the wrong reasons. That is because it was reported that La Russa had recently been charged with a DUI according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN.
Freeman batted .341 with 13 home runs and 53 runs batted in. During 60 games and 262 plate appearances, he scored a Major League-leading 51 runs, and collected 73 hits, a Major League-leading 23 doubles, one triple, two stolen bases, 45 walks, 137 total bases, an on base percentage of .462, and a slugging percentage of .640.
Freeman won 28 of the 30 first place votes. Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts was second in the overall voting with two first place votes.
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