The votes for the American League MVP in 2022 will not be as loose as some believe. Aaron Judge’s historic season with his New York Yankees meets a superlative one from Shohei Ohtani’s two-way player, who put up tremendous numbers, especially from the mound.
Judge starts as the favorite on the ballot after a season in which he became the owner of the record for home runs in a season in the American League with 62, leaving behind Roger Maris’ record of 61, which coincidentally was 61 years old.
Who should win AL MVP? ????
RT for Shohei Ohtani
???? Like for Aaron Judge pic.twitter.com/rTtTUt7gNh— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) October 6, 2022
The Yankees outfielder was a direct participant in his team keeping the East pennant of the young circuit, in a year in which he was very close to the Triple Crown, being the leader in runs scored (133), home runs (62 ), RBIs (131), walks received (111), OBP (.425), slugging (.686), OPS (1,111) and total bases (391) for his league.
For most experts Judge is the personification of the meaning of the award, since he was the best hitter in the Major Leagues in a round season for the Bronx Bombers. In fact, it’s curious that most of the MLB sluggers have expressed their support for Judge for MVP, and that the pitchers have done the same for Ohtani.
“To be honest, I think if they give it to Ohtani it will be another steal. Judge’s numbers are way above Ohtani’s. Ohtani is a great player, but for me the MVP has to be Aaron Judge,” Vladimir said. Guerrero Jr. in statements taken up by the journalist Héctor Gómez.
In 2022, Shohei Ohtani has:
-More home runs than Giancarlo Stanton
-Higher batting average than Mookie Betts
-Lower ERA than Gerrit Cole
-More strikeouts than Justin Verlander pic.twitter.com/rQaOORge1N— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 5, 2022
Ohtani, for his part, lived a consecration campaign after winning the MVP in 2021. The Japanese hit 34 home runs, drove in 95 runs and left an offensive line of .273/.356/.519 with the wood; while from the mound he posted a 2.33 ERA with 219 strikeouts in 166 innings of work. He was also invited to the All-Star Game in a season in which the Los Angeles Angels missed the postseason.
If the criteria of the baseball writers holds, Judge should win the Most Valuable Player. If in 2021 Ohtani won it for living a historic campaign, the Yankees outfielder should receive the same assessment. And all this before becoming a free agent for 2023, where he hopes to sign a contract for at least 300 million dollars.
What Judge did has no equal. This time he deserves the award.
