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When there is no wrong answer, does that mean there is no right one, as well? Or at least none that will satisfy everyone. A strong AL MVP case in our annual midseason awards can be made for Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt Jr. and perhaps Jose Ramirez. Without injury denting their season, Steven Kwan and Kyle Tucker would be in the conversation, perhaps Royce Lewis too. The AL is not hurting for brilliant performances so far this year. I see your Jarren Duran and raise you Riley Greene and Carlos Correa. More From Joel Sherman For most of this first half, I have thought that Witt was the MVP for the combination of terrific stats, doing it without the help of a supporting cast as deep as the Yankees and Orioles, and not only being the best defender among the most obvious candidates, but maybe in the sport (Fangraphs has him as the top fielder by its metrics). My initial hedge away from Witt was toward Soto because his stats also are splendid particularly his clutch stats and he had been such a transformational figure in the Yankees lineup. But as the first half has progre sed it just has become overt that this is about Henderson vs. Judge. Their value is incredible, and they are having the best seasons in the majors. I think the correct answer is Henderson, because as opposed to Judge, who struggled the first few weeks, it feels as if Henderson hasnt even had a bad game this year. And because Henderson at shortstop plays a more valuable position, though Judges ability to man center field as he did for a lot of his historic 2022 has been deeply valuable to the Yankees. Gunnar Henderson hasnt struggled much during the 2024 season. Getty Images But this is trying to find the gap between millimeters. Judge has basically been playing a different sport than everyone else since late April. He is somehow a better overall hitter than in 2022, which was among the best offensive seasons ever. He began the weekend with a .701 slugging percentage, and no qualified hitter has been over .700 since Barry Bonds in 2004. Henderson is Corey Seagers hitting profile combined with Dustin Pedroias zeal, now add high-level shortstop defense and speed good enough to make him 13-of-14 in steals. He was on a 50-plus homer pace. Alex Rodriguez is the only shortstop ever to top 50. He led the majors in Wins Above Replacement, and of course Judge was just behind him. It is that close. Pick one, pick the other. They both are right. 2. Aaron Judge, Yankees. 3. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals. 4. Juan Soto, Yankees. 5. Jose Ramirez, Guardians. Aaron Judge began the weekend with a .701 slugging percentage. Charles Wenzelberg AL Anti-MVP Jose Abreu, formerly Astros Offense has been so down again that it is not hard to find candidates. I thought seriously of having DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres share this or Torontos Bo Bichette and George Springer. But Abreu was so bad that the Astros first sent the 2020 AL MVP to the minors then released him with about $30 million still due to Abreu through next year. Abreus .361 OPS this season was the worst by a non-pitcher or catcher with at least 120 plate appearances since Dwain Andersons .353 in 1973. 2. DJ LeMahieu/Anthony Rizzo/Gleyber Torres, Yankees. 3. Javier Barez/Spencer Torkelson, Tigers. 4. Bo Bichette/George Springer, Blue Jays. 5. Andrew Benintendi/Martin Maldonado, White Sox. The Astros sent Jose Abreu to the minors before releasing him. USA TODAY Sports NL MVP Bryce Harper, Phillies No full-time designated hitter has ever won a MVP the closest was when Don Baylor started at DH 65 times in 1979. Shohei Ohtani won twice while serving as a DH, but also a starting pitcher. This year Ohtani is in position (no pun intended) to be the first position-le s non-pitcher to win. His numbers are outrageous. Ohtani joins Henderson and Ramirez as the only major leaguers with 20-plus homers and 10-plus steals Ohtani was 25/16 going into the weekend along with a 1.045 OPS. And Ohtanis value only rises as he continues to rake with the absence of Mookie Betts, who was likely the NL MVP front-runner before fracturing his left hand on June 16 and being lost for 6-8 weeks. Plus, Ohtani probably will become the frontrunner unquestioned moving forward because Harper (hamstring) was placed on the IL on Friday. But this is a half-season award, and Harper has 20 homers and a .981 OPS (second in the NL to Ohtani) while playing first base. And there was this: Harpers OPS with runners in scoring position this year was 1.406. The next best among those with at least 75 plate appearances in such situations was Soto at 1.179. Remember how Bonds in 2004 was the last player with a .700-plus slugging percentage over a full season? Bonds OPS that year with runners in scoring position was 1.698 helped greatly by being intentionally walked 90 Jordan Lawlar Jersey times in such situations. That was the last time someone had a higher OPS over a full season than Harper has now. Ohtanis runner-in-scoring-position OPS was .688. Besides Betts and Harper being hurt, the field has cleared a lot for Ohtani. The 2023 NL MVP winner Ronald Acuna Jr. is out for the season, and his Braves teammates Matt Olson and Austin Riley are down considerably from last season, as is Arizonas Corbin Carroll. And Soto was traded to the AL. 2. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers. 3. Mookie Betts, Dodgers. 4. Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks. 5. Jurickson Profar, Padres. Bryce Harper has emerged as a favorite for the NL MVP. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con NL Anti-MVP Nolan Arenado/Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals There are players having worse seasons than the Cardinals corner infielders. But if they were close to who they were in 2022 when Goldschmidt won the NL MVP and Arenado finished second, St. Louis would likely lead the NL Central. Manny Machado, who finished between Goldschmidt and Arenado in 2022, was having a disappointing first half until awakening recently. 2. Corbin Carroll, Dbacks. 3. Jeff McNeil, Mets. 4. Kris Bryant, Rockies. 5. Manny Machado, Padres. Nolan Arenado has hit .259 to start the 2024 season. Getty Images Paul Goldschmidt reacts after striking out during a Cardinals game earlier this month. Getty Images AL Cy Young Tarik Skubal, Tigers The Detroit lefty began the weekend fourth in the AL in ERA, second in WHIP and fifth in strikeout percentage. There have been Cys won out of the two Central divisions especially when teams were playing 19 games against each division foe when you could see them capitalizing on having lots of weak opponents. Tarik Skubal throws a pitch against the Braves earlier this month. But combined with the starters, Milwaukee reliever Bryan Hudson, Brewers infielder Joey Ortiz, Cubs first baseman Michael Busch and Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn, there are 10-12 legitimate candidates to try to shoehorn into five spots. 2. Masyn Winn, Cardinals. 3. Gavin Stone, Dodgers. 4. Joey Ortiz, Brewers. 5. Bryan Hudson, Brewers. Kyle Nelson Jersey
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发表于 2025-11-9 00:08:08