Andrew Benintendi is your World Series MVP right now and it's not even close
2018 World Series Logo (Sportslogos.net)
Andrew Benintendi is your 2018 World Series Most Valuable Player right now because he has produced seven runs for the Boston Red Sox offensively and has the second best offensive success rate among starting players only behind J.D. Martinez on the Red Sox.
Benintendi is the best run producer offensively on the Red Sox right now and there hasn't been a lot of impressive pitching performances so far which is why I am giving Benintendi the World Series MVP right now through the first two games.
The Boston Red Sox lead the series two games to zero over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Game Three is tonight (Friday). First pitch is at 8:09 p.m. Eastern Time.
Think of success rate as like on-base plus slugging percentage only more accurate. Success rate is calculated as the number of bases a hitter/batter advances himself and his teammates via getting on-base only. The second number behind the slash (/) is the number of possible bases a batter/hitter can advance himself and his teammates. However, walks, intentional walks, hit by pitches and catcher's interference are not penalized against the hitter/batter.
Benintendi has a .250 success rate while J.D. Martinez is at .326. Eduardo Nunez leads the Red Sox among non-starting players with a perfect score of 1.000.
Mookie Betts (4.5 Runs Produced), Martinez (.325 Runs Produced) and Nunez (3.25 Runs Produced) are in line for the World Series MVP right now on the Red Sox.
The Dodgers on the other hand are led by Manny Machado who has produced 2.5 runs in the first two games of the World Series.
Machado (.164) is in third place among starters for success rate only behind Yasiel Puig (.200) and David Freese (.172). Yasmani Grandal has a success rate of .429, highest on the Dodgers.
Matt Kemp (2.25 Runs Produced) and Justin Turner (1.75) are also strong candidates right now for World Series MVP on the Dodgers.
As for pitching, Joe Kelly, Nathan Eovaldi and Craig Kimbrel look like pitching MVP's on the Red Sox. They have each thrown 2 innings pitched and haven't allowed any baserunners to reach base yet. And that also means they haven't given up any runs yet.
Red Sox pitcher David Price has a better chance than anybody to win MVP for a pitcher right now as he has thrown six innings pitched and didn't give up a run in his first 3 innings pitched, something no other pitcher in the World Series has done so far.
He also hasn't allowed any runs in five of the six innings he has pitched so far. Price has only given up two runs.
Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez has thrown a third of an inning and has given up no runs. He has a chance to win MVP if he gets a start and/or throws really well out of the bullpen for multiple innings.
On the Dodgers, Julio Urias is the best pitcher as he has pitched in relief in the first two games and didn't give up any runs after one full inning pitched in each game. He has thrown two innings pitched but allowed Benintendi to reach in Game 1 in his second inning of work on a ground-rule double in which he later scored on Eduardo Nunez's three-run homer in the seventh inning.
Hyun-Jin Ryu has gone farther than anybody on the Dodgers and didn't give up any runs in his first 1 2/3 innings of work which is the best a Dodgers pitcher has done in the World Series since entering the game. He pitched 4 2/3 innings in Game 2 and gave up four runs.
Pedro Baez has pitched 1 2/3 innings in the World Series. He pitched 2/3 of an inning in Game 1 and was responsible for one run scoring. He didn't give up any runs in Game 2 in one inning pitched.
Even if we included biased information of what you think should value one player over another just because the hitter/batter drove in a run and advanced other baserunner(s), even though that hitter/batter didn't score in the inning and perhaps other baserunners didn't score, Benintendi would still be winning on the Red Sox. And Benintendi hasn't gotten any biased points offensively through the first two games.
Red Sox outfielder/designated hitter J.D. Martinez has actually benefited from the biased points system and is barely ahead of Mookie Betts in second place for offensive MVP.
Manny Machado would still be winning on the Dodgers for offensive MVP and he, Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal have been significantly helped as far as the biased points system.
Justin Turner and Matt Kemp are effectively deadlocked for the second-place offensive MVP vote right now in the biased points system for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Offensive statistics for the first two games for both teams are below. Actual RBI's are the normal way that everybody thinks of RBI's in baseball:
Boston Red Sox:
Mookie Betts 7/39 .179, 3 R, 1.5 RBI, 4.5 Runs Produced
Andrew Benintendi 12/48 .250, 4 R, 3 RBI, 7 Runs Produced, 1 Actual RBI
Steve Pearce 6/29 .207, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 Runs Produced, 1 Actual RBI
J.D. Martinez 15/46 .326, 1 R, 2.25 RBI, 3.25 Runs Produced, 4 Actual RBI's
Xander Bogaerts 6/44 .136, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 Runs Produced, 1 Actual RBI
Rafael Devers 4/36 .111, .25 RBI, .25 Runs Produced, 1 Actual RBI
Ian Kinsler 3/38 .079, .5 RBI, .5 Runs Produced, 1 Actual RBI
Sandy Leon 4/19 .211
Jackie Bradley Jr. 2/38 .053
Mitch Moreland 0/11 .000
Eduardo Nunez 9/9 1.000, 1 R, 2.25 RBI, 3.25 Runs Produced, 3 Actual RBI's
Christian Vazquez 1/12 .083, 1 R, .25 RBI, 1.25 Runs Produced
Los Angeles Dodgers:
Brian Dozier 2/18 .111, 1 R, .5 RBI, 1.5 Runs Produced
Justin Turner 5/45 .111, 1 R, .75 RBI, 1.75 Runs Produced
David Freese 5/29 .172, 1 R, .5 RBI, 1.5 Runs Produced
Manny Machado 9/55 .164, 1 R, 1.5 RBI, 2.5 Runs Produced, 3 Actual RBI's
Chris Taylor 3/28 .107, .5 RBI, .5 Runs Produced
Matt Kemp 5/43 .116, 1 R, 1.25 RBI, 2.25 Runs Produced, 2 Actual RBI's
Enrique "Kike" Hernandez 0/29 .000
Yasiel Puig 6/30 .200, .5 RBI, .5 Runs Produced, 1 Actual RBI
Austin Barnes 0/23 .000
Cody Bellinger 0/18 .000
Joc Pederson 0/12 .000
Max Muncy 1/12 .083, 1 R, .25 RBI, 1.25 Runs Produced
Yasmani Grandal 3/7 .429, .25 RBI, .25 Runs Produced
