But Ohtani Also Pitches...

That seems to be the only argument those who think Shohei Ohtani should win AL MVP over Aaron Judge ever make.  So, if I can follow their line of thinking, Ohtani should automatically win AL MVP every year until the end of his career because he has a unique skillset that's unlike anything Major League Baseball has ever seen before.  And it should also be held against everybody else that they can't do something only Ohtani can.

Count CC Sabathia, Judge's former teammate, among that group who thinks Ohtani should automatically be MVP just because.  When asked about it, CC somewhat controversially, said that if he had a vote, he would pick Ohtani over Judge.  Although, his argument pretty much came down to fanboying over Ohtani and calling him the "best player ever" repeatedly.  Which apparently, in CC's mind means we shouldn't even bother if Ohtani's healthy, since we should just give it to him every year.

Shohei Ohtani is a unique talent.  No one is denying that.  Watching him pitch seven innings and strike out seven while also hitting two home runs, then DHing the next night is truly remarkable.  There's no question that his ability to not only do both, but do both at such a high level makes Ohtani the best overall player in baseball right now.  But simply being the best player doesn't make you the MVP.

Yet still, there are those who are trying to make the case that the AL MVP race actually is or should be somewhat close.  It's not.  And I don't think it will be when the actual vote totals are revealed.  But the fact that so many people are talking about Ohtani are turning it into a conversation.  Well, they're trying to at least.

Now, I'm sure that some of these broadcasters and columnists know it'll actually be Judge, but are saying "Ohtani" simply because they need something to talk/write about and they want to start a debate.  There are also likely some of them who feel strongly that it should be Ohtani because they view the MVP as more of a "Best Player" award.  Then there's Option C, which I'm sure has also entered into the mindset of some, they just want to get Yankees fans riled up!

In fact, some of the most asinine comments from the Ohtani crowd is that Yankee fans "need to stop being biased" towards Judge.  The irony of statements like that is how those making them probably don't even realize how biased they are against Judge.  They don't like the Yankees and, by extension, Aaron Judge.  So, Yankee fans are wrong for thinking their guy is the MVP.  Meanwhile, if you took the team and player names away, it wouldn't even be a close comparison.

None of this is to diminish Ohtani.  At all.  But what have his otherworldly numbers gotten his team?  Yet another losing season.  So, how valuable is he when, despite having arguably the two best players on the planet, the team still isn't any good?  The Angels might lose more games without him, but it's not like they're winning a ton with him!

Judge, meanwhile, has been carrying a first-place team on his back all season.  When the Yankees sucked so bad in August that they looked like a Little League team out there, Judge was the one guy who actually looked like he still knew how to hit.  They've won games solely because of Aaron Judge this season, and the Yankees are headed to the playoffs.

There's also this little tidbit that has gone somewhat unnoticed because of his monster offensive numbers, but I think it's one of the biggest reasons for the Yankees' success this season.  Judge moved to center field to make the team better.  His being willing to switch positions allowed Giancarlo Stanton to play the outfield and opened up the DH spot, giving Aaron Boone so many more options with his lineup (it also made it so that he didn't have to start Aaron Hicks and/or Joey Gallo).  This is a team that has five starting infielders, mind you, so somebody would've had to sit if Stanton was locked into the DH spot.

Now let's talk about what he's done offensively.  The most obvious thing is that he's going to break the franchise and American League single-season home run record.  He's going to do this despite only getting a handful of pitches to hit every night.  Judge may get one pitch per at-bat.  He makes sure he does something with it.  And, again, how many times has he come up with the clutch hit (not necessarily a home run) that gave the Yankees the victory?

One guy used as his argument "All Judge does is hit home runs," which anyone who's watched a second of baseball this season (or taken the 30 seconds to look up the stats) knows is categorically FALSE!  Judge, in fact, leads either the Majors or the AL in EVERY major offensive category except for batting average, where he's currently third (just one point behind Luis Arraez).  So, after he gets to 62, it'll be the Judge Triple Crown watch, which is suddenly a realistic pursuit.

The last time somebody won the Triple Crown, it was Miguel Cabrera in 2012.  And Miggy had to deal with a lot of the same crap in his Triple Crown year.  All anyone would talk about was how Mike Trout deserved to be MVP over him because of Trout's WAR.

You know my feelings on WAR, but if you want to talk about it, let's talk about it.  Judge's WAR is 9.2.  Ohtani's is 8.7.  And that's his pitching and hitting combined!  So, even when combining his pitching and hitting stats, Ohtani's WAR is still half a point below Judge's!  Yet you're still telling me that this guy deserves to be MVP over Judge?  Please!

It's true that Ohtani was the unanimous AL MVP last season over Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.  There are two major differences between 2021 and 2022, though.  Last season, Ohtani and Guerrero were neck-and-neck offensively while Ohtani was also putting up great pitching numbers in the first season the Angels really let him do both full-time.  This year, Ohtani's offensive numbers don't compare to what he did last year (yet are still really good).  Judge, meanwhile, is having a historic offensive season!

I also come back to this.  Ohtani is the only guy who pitches and hits!  So is that really a fair criterion to use for your comparison?  You can't hold the fact that Ohtani does something no one else can do against everybody else!  Especially since it's not the "Best" Player Award.  It's the "Most Valuable" Player Award.  And, sorry, but this year, it's no contest.

As great as Shohei Ohtani is, he's not the AL MVP.  Aaron Judge is having a historic season.  As much as 2021 was Ohtani's year, 2022 is Judge's.  Fortunately, enough people realize that to make this stupid "debate" unnecessary.  Ohtani's great.  Judge is the MVP.  And, frankly, it's not even that close.