Why Ohtani deserves ‘MVP’ over Judge

Judge, the ghostbuster
A few weeks ago, I talked about the subject of ‘Yankee ghosts’ and how Roger Maris suffered (before and after) breaking Babe Ruth’s old mark for home runs in a season.

The context with Judge, clearly the best hitter in all of Major League Baseball today, is different. All of New York and the rest of MLB is ‘cheering’ for ‘Judge’ to break the record. And there is nothing wrong with that, on the contrary. It’s just very different from what Maris went through, who was even booed in his own stadium. But let’s get down to business: Why should Judge be MVP?

‘Judge’ is the first ballplayer since Venezuela’s Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012 to lead all three categories (PRO/HR/RBI) in September or later. He is also the first Yankee to do that since Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Likewise, Judge is the right-handed hitter with the most home runs in a season in American League history and, with 11 games with at least two homers, is tied for the most in history.

As I mentioned previously, his Yankees lead their division and are headed for the postseason.

“To me, the definition of MVP is what a player did to help his team win – where would the Yankees be without Judge?” veteran baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian questioned in an appearance with ESPN.

“Not in first place in their division, maybe not in playoffs. It’s true that Ohtani is having an unprecedented season, but if your team is in first place and having a historic season, that tips the scales to one place,” he added.

In fact, Judge is the first player to hit his 60th homer in the ninth inning or later, and he’s also the first to hit his 60th HR as a first baseman and to do it anywhere in the lineup other than the third or fourth inning.

Judge is now on pace to hit 66 home runs this season (assuming he plays in all remaining games, which would tie him for the third most in MLB history with Sammy Sosa).

It is important to note that the Triple Crown was not in the picture until this month. Judge’s September career record is .475/.573/1.017 for an OPS of 1.590. That would be the highest OPS in history in September (min. 75 plate appearances).

Judge leads the majors in WAR, according to Baseball Reference, with 9.7. That’s a big deal for voters, who over the past decade have leaned toward that metric to define a MVP.

Judge also leads MLB in OPS .419, sluggin .703, and slugging .419. He also has an OPS+ of 214, which is calculated as the sum of slugging and slugging percentage. He also has a 210 WRC+ (takes runs created and adjusts that number for other important factors).

Ohtani and a season better than? unanimous?
“If they give Ohtani the MVP, it would be a ‘steal’ again. I think Judge deserves it,” Toronto Blue Jays’ Dominican slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said this week.

Are his statements valid? Ohtani is coming off a unanimous Most Valuable Player award, so how is that a ‘steal’? His words sound more like misgivings than anything else. Neither Vladdy nor other detractors of the Japanese can deny one thing: never before in baseball history have we seen a player as talented and dominant as Ohtani in both facets of the game. Not even Ruth, the legend of legends.

To give us an idea, courtesy of Sarah Langs, since 1900, these are the ballplayers with at least 500 plate appearances and 500 batters faced: Ohtani and Ruth. But wait a minute… Ohtani has even surpassed 600 (608) plate appearances. And he has currently faced 593 batters. So, he’ll create his own 600 & 600 club.

Pause for a moment: When did we normalize this? Of course, we can’t ‘punish’ Judge for not being a pitcher either. By the way, he has a 0.00 ERA… Ok, now, no jokes.

Ohtani, who was a unanimous MVP selection in 2021, is having a better season than last season. How so?

In 2021, the Ohtani pitcher posted a 9-2 record with a 3.08 ERA and 156 strikeouts. This year? 13-8 with a 2.43 ERA and 196 strikeouts. Most impressive? He has a 33.1 ERA, the best in the majors. Among qualified pitchers, only Carlos Rodon comes close with 32.8%.

So, in other words, the Ohtani pitcher is having a better season than Cy Young Corbin Burnes and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, as well as a similar tournament to what is considered the best pitcher in MLB, Sandy Alcantara?

Yes… Alcantara is aiming to pitch nine episodes, compared to the ‘traditional’ seven of the Japanese. But it is striking that the Dominican has struck out 188 batters, for example, in 212.2 innings, while Ohtani 196 in 148 innings. You be the judge.