We won’t know who won the MVP award in both leagues for a few more days, but at least we have a fine preview.
The Sporting News revealed their MLB Player of the Year Award.
Unsurprisingly, it went for New York Yankees star Aaron Judge.
𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐌𝐋𝐁 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 🏆
Aaron Judge, @Yankees
In a survey of 360 players, Judge received 66% of the vote. Shohei Ohtani finished in second with ~18%. pic.twitter.com/JYmBUKoCZq
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) October 27, 2022
The fact Judge won is not really surprising: players recognize he had an amazing, historic season.
The gap between him and Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani was surprisingly large, though.
In any case, gap or not, Judge was the most impressive player in baseball this year.
The Owner Of An Impressive Record
He broke a home run record that was standing for 61 years: with 62 dingers, he is now the owner of the highest single-season mark for both the Yankees and the American League.
He did it while slashing .311/.425/.686 in a tough offensive environment.
He was so good that he challenged for the American League hitting Triple Crown until the last week of the season.
He scored 133 runs and drove in 131, and if that weren’t enough, he also stole 16 bases.
In addition to his offensive contributions, Judge was a defensive ace for the Yanks.
Regularly a right fielder, he was deployed as a center fielder for over 600 innings this season and was above-average.
The postseason wasn’t very productive for him, as he had a lousy .490 OPS, but the overall body of work in 2022 was very impressive and makes him deserving of The Sporting News’ designation as MLB’s Player of the Year.
He will be a very rich man when he signs his next contract this offseason.
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