New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge looks poised to win his first AL MVP award this year.
He deserved one in 2017, but Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve got the most votes.
This time, he wants to make sure to leave no doubt.
He is having a marvelous season that is historically relevant, especially for the Yankees.
With 55 home runs entering the last three weeks of play, Judge is just seven away from becoming the AL record-holder for most homers in a single season.
However, besides that, he has done more than enough to win the award, especially since the All-Star break.
AL stat leaders in the 2nd half:
HR — Judge (22)
RBI — Judge (51)
R — Judge (39)
BB% — Judge (19.8)
ISO — Judge (.449)
OBP — Judge (.493)
SLG — Judge (.802)
OPS — Judge (1.295)
wOBA — Judge (.524)
wRC+ — Judge (255)
fWAR — Judge (4.7)@YankeesMuse pic.twitter.com/oWxAlVMXfg— StatMuse (@statmuse) September 12, 2022
Judge Has No Rivals As An Offensive Producer
Those are the most relevant, important offensive stat categories, and Judge is leading them all in the second half.
There is one potential issue with Judge’s MVP case: Shohei Ohtani‘s two-way prowess.
The Los Angeles Angels star has a .894 OPS and 34 home runs as a hitter, and a 2.55 ERA as a pitcher.
Those are mind-blowing numbers that should earn Ohtani the MVP as long as somebody else is doing something really special with the bat.
It’s safe to say, therefore, that Judge is doing something really special.
In any case, even if the Yankees star is considered the favorite, Ohtani has lots of fans and voters backing him up, and it’s not crazy at all to see him being elected for the second year in a row.
The AL MVP race will be exciting until the very end.
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