The AL MVP Race Is Heating up
(Photo by Paul Sancya / AP via nbcnews)
History. What a concept. We’re kind of used to it by now, so it can be easy to take guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Shohei Ohtani for granted, but we are seeing two of the best individual seasons ever unfold in front of our eyes.
ESPN has posted these guys enough for us to know how good these two superstars are, but let’s be real. The Blue Jays first baseman has a real chance to hit for the triple crown AND STILL NOT WIN MVP, there hasn’t been a triple crown winner to not win MVP since Lou Gehrig in 1934.
To be fair, the guy who would beat out Vladdy for MVP is one of the best pitchers and hitters in the MLB. The phenomenon that is Shohei has not been seen since The Great Bambino way back in the 1920s. I mean, this dude is absolutely insane. Shohei has the fifth best odds to win the Cy Young Award this year with a 3.36 ERA and 10.6 k/9 through over 100 innings pitched. What makes this guy so remarkable is that he is not only his team’s ace by a very, very large margin, but he’s also packing a massive bat to anchor the Angels lineup while Mike Trout is battling injuries.
At the plate, Shohei is hitting .254 with a .956 OPS and 44 home runs, tied for second in the bigs with Salvador Perez. Shohei is such an unbelievable value for a single roster spot, like the Taysom Hill of baseball if Hill was at the top of the league in passing yards and tackles. Baseball is the hardest sport on the planet, mastering one half of the game is hard enough for the vast majority of the best big leaguers. Meanwhile Shohei pitches almost weekly, while casually hitting absolute bombs between starts and swiping 23 bags.
In my mind, there is no way Vladdy can come close to the MVP without hitting for the triple crown, and even then it’s a toss up. He just dropped to second in the league in batting average at .317 (Trea Turner .318), is tied for third in RBIs (103), and leads the league in homers with 45.
Hitting for the triple crown is rare, even though we were blessed with Miguel Cabrera’s 2012 season, it’s only been done 27 times since statistics developed in the 1860’s. With Shohei’s value as an ace and an elite left handed power bat, he is the definition of the most valuable player. Even with a triple crown, it would be an absolute crime to give the MVP to anyone but Shohei. The Angels aren’t in playoff contention, but that’s no surprise with a trademarked weak stock of arms, and you can’t make up for the limited seasons from Trout and Anthony Rendon.
Baseball is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? I have the pleasure of writing about an MVP debate between a potential triple crown winner and a two-way player who is putting up Babe Ruth numbers in 2021. There’s no way Shohei, the most popular player in the league, doesn’t win this MVP, but could Vladdy force the first Co-MVP in either league’s history?