For the third time in five years, Paul Goldschmidt has been overlooked for the National League's Most Valuable Player award.
The Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman finished third in the NL MVP voting for the 2017 season, finishing behind the winner, Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, and the runner-up, Reds first baseman Joey Votto. Stanton's 59 home runs were tops in baseball in 2017.
Stanton and Votto both received 10 first-place votes; Goldschmidt received four.
Congratulations to @Giancarlo818 on winning MVP. Well earned.
And a round of applause for our third-place finisher, Paul Goldschmidt, for another incredible season. pic.twitter.com/7Jz7rs4yAx
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) November 16, 2017
Goldschmidt was instrumental in helping to get the D-backs to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. He was among the National League leaders in batting average (.297), on-base percentage (.404), slugging percentage (.563), home runs (36) and RBIs (120) in 2017. But a poor final month of the season (.175 batting average, three home runs in September) might have cost him the MVP award.
Goldschmidt was the runner-up in National League MVP voting in 2013 and 2015. He lost out to Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen four years ago and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper two years ago.
The 30-year-old Goldschmidt was selected by the Diamondbacks in the eighth round of the 2009 MLB Draft. He is a five-time National League All-Star selection, three-time Gold Glove Award winner and three-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
On Tuesday, D-backs first-year manager Torey Lovullo won the National League Manager of the Year award.
