What happens if Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels wins the home run title.
It’s safe to say that Shohei Ohtani will be a unanimous choice for American League (AL) MVP again this year.
Ohtani took over the AL lead in the category with 먹튀검증 a two-homer game against the Texas Rangers on July 13. As of that date, Ohtani leads the league with 20, followed by New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge with 19 and Houston Astros’ Jordan Alvarez with 17.
Jersey injured his toe against the fence while catching a fly against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 4, leaving Ohtani to lead the home run race for the time being.
At this point, it’s unlikely he’ll be back this week, let alone this month. It’s been ten days since he was injured, and he hasn’t even been given a rehab schedule. According to the rules, Jersey will be eligible to join the active roster in 15 days.
It’s interesting to note that Yankees president Hal Steinbrenner spoke to local media on Wednesday. According to the New York State newspaper Newsday, Steinbrenner said, “Jersey’s injury is not out of the ordinary. But the hope is that he’ll be back before the All-Star break,” Steinbrenner said.
This is the first time a Yankees team official has given a timetable for Judge’s return. However, Steinbrenner’s mention of the All-Star break emphasizes that Judge’s injury is not something that will require months of rehabilitation. This year’s All-Star break is July 11-14.
That doesn’t mean he’ll be back this month. Manager Aaron Boone said on July 12 that the “swelling has gone down a lot,” but he couldn’t give a timetable for his return. According to the New York Post, “The swelling needs to go down before we can make an accurate diagnosis of the injury. It’s unlikely he’ll be back this week (Aug. 18).
While it’s unclear how many more home runs Ohtani will have before he returns, it’s clear that he has a golden opportunity to win the home run title.
With 20 homers in the team’s 68 games, Ohtani is arithmetically on pace to hit 47.6, or 47-48 homers, this season. That would surpass his career high of 46, which he hit in 2021. With eight homers in his last 13 games, 50 isn’t out of the question.
In the second round of MVP mock voting, which was conducted over 13 days by 47 MLB.com reporters, editors and commentators, Ohtani received 23 first-place votes. That makes him the most likely MVP candidate, which is a bit less likely than the first round of voting, in which 30 of 43 voters picked Ohtani as their top choice. That’s because he’s been struggling as a pitcher.
However, if it’s a home run title, Ohtani, a non-pitcher, shouldn’t have too much trouble winning the MVP. As of today, Ohtani is fifth in RBIs (50) and third in OPS (.955), and he’s also first in both Baseball-Reference (3.8) and Fangraphs (3.5) WAR, so he’s definitely better than “0” for MVP based on his combined performance.
Ohtani’s tiebreaking solo shot in the seventh inning and game-winning two-run shot in the 12th inning of extra innings against Texas were probably the most emotional for Jersey. The 62-homer slugger’s ego was already on display when he skipped the World Baseball Classic after signing a $360 million contract last winter.