Charlie Blackmon and his historical start to the 2017 season

DENVER, CO - JUNE 22: Charlie Blackmon
DENVER, CO - JUNE 22: Charlie Blackmon /
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Charlie Blackmon has had an MVP-worthy year and the month of June helped his All-Star and MVP causes.

Charlie Blackmon has performed like a MVP with his historical start to the 2017 season. Blackmon is tied for the most hits in baseball with 104 (with his former teammate, Corey Dickerson, of the Tampa Bay Rays), the most triples with 10 (his teammate, Nolan Arenado, is the 2nd-best in baseball with 5, entering July), 17 HRs, 57 RBIs, a .315/.369/.582 slasline. His advanced stats are just as impressive. His OPS+ is 129 (100 is league average) and a 126 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus in which, again, 100 is league average).

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Historical Numbers

Blackmon’s start to the 2017 season is put in historical perspective according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Only three people in MLB history have had more than 15 homers and 10 triples before the start of July: Chuck Klein, of the 1932 Philadelphia Phillies, Johnny Callison of the 1965 Phillies, and Blackmon.

Klein had 24 HRs and 12 3Bs and by the end of the season, he had 38 HRs (which led the league), 15 3Bs, and 137 RBIs. In addition, he led the league in games played, hits, runs, stolen bases, and slugging percentage. Furthermore, he won the MVP, In fact, it was actually only the second season of the award. After his career ended, he became a Hall of Famer in 1980 by way of the Veterans Committee.

For Callison, he had 15 HRs and 10 3Bs by July in 1965. Also, he played in the All-Star game in 1965 and he finished the season with 32 HRs, 16 3Bs, and 101 RBIs.

Next: Starting Pitching Options for the Rockies at the Trade Deadline

Analysis

Since Blackmon has had such a great start to the season and he has a high vote total, when the starters are announced for the All-Star Game tommorrow, Blackmon will be one of the three outfielders starting for the NL. If his performance continues in the second half of the season, he will definitely be in the NL MVP consideration.