June Mar Fajardo still in driver’s seat in PBA MVP race

San Miguel Beer center June Mar Fajardo during a game against Meralco in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.–PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines–June Mar Fajardo maintained his hold in the race for the PBA Most Valuable Player through the end of the Commissioner’s Cup.

The San Miguel Beer star had 29.8 Statistical Points compiled through the first two conferences of the 50th season to gain a wide lead over the rest of the field.

NLEX’s Robert Bolick is second with 26.7 Statistical Points, while Converge rookie Juan Gomez de Liano has 23.6 to place third in the derby.

READ: June Mar Fajardo wins ninth PBA MVP award

Also in the top five are Magnolia’s Zavier Lucero (23.3) and Converge’s Justine Baltazar (23.2) while in sixth is Barangay Ginebra’s RJ Abarrientos (22.8).

Fajardo is eyeing an unprecedented 10th MVP and is on pace to do so after leading the Beermen to the Philippine Cup title while also being named as Best Player of the Conference.

Bolick has been a candidate for the BPC in both conferences on the stretch of strong statistical numbers, but NLEX has failed to reach the semifinals of the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup.

Meanwhile, Gomez de Liano is heavily favored to bag Rookie of the Year honors on the strength of a strong All-Filipino campaign.

The MVP and other individual awards will be handed during the opening of Season 51, with the winners to be determined through stats and votes.

Forty-five percent of the statistics will be used while the rest are those from the media (30%) and players (25%).