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As expected, Buster Posey won the National League Most Valuable Player award when it was announced on Thursday. Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen finished third in the voting, appearing on all 32 ballots. Posey hit a league leading .336 for the season, adding 24 home runs and 104 RBIs. McCutchen hit .327 in 2012 with 31 homers and driving in 96.
McCutchen did not receive a first-place vote, making him the only player to finish in the top four of the voting that did not earn a top vote. He managed to edge out Yadier Molina for third place in the voting, with 245 points to Molina's 241.
The complete breakdown of the top five finishers in the NL MVP balloting is as follows, and each individual voter's ballot can be found at the BBWAA website:
| Player, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buster Posey, Giants | 27 | 4 | 1 | 422 | |||||||
| Ryan Braun, Brewers | 3 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 285 | ||||||
| Andrew McCutchen, Pirates | 6 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 245 | |||||
| Yadier Molina, Cardinals | 2 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 241 | ||||
| Chase Headley, Padres | 1 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 127 | ||||