It’s time to stop the Ohtani vs. Judge MVP debate and appreciate greatness

One of the most talked about subjects in all of sports right now is the MLB American League MVP race: 2 way superstar and reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani vs super slugger Aaron Judge. Both have very good cases for the award and that has sparked a lot of debate among fans. And, while MVP awards are a good topic to discuss, I think things are getting out of hand. Recently, fans on both sides have been dragging down the other side rather than simply lifting their side up. So, I’m here to give out the stats and the stats only, so everyone out there can appreciate what they’re both doing without the debate. 

Let’s start with Ohtani. The man needs no introduction. On the mound, Shohei has been one of the best, as he is top 16 in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP as of September 18th. But, of course, most of his highlights that you’ll see come from the plate. The Japanese unicorn has 34 HR’s and 89 RBI’s while batting a respectable .266, which is up from his .257 mark last year when he won MVP. When you also add in his 11 stolen bases, you can see Ohtani has, once again, had a season that only he himself will come close to replicating again. However, the same can be said for the man on the other side of the country and the MVP race, Aaron Judge. 

Aaron Judge has simply been magnificent at the plate this season. There are so many stats I could read off to emphasize this but that would take me hours upon hours, so let me give you the notable ones (as of September 18). 59 HR’s, .312 batting average, a .415 OBP, 127 RBI’s, and a ridiculous video game-like 1.102 OPS. The man is a home run machine. He will most likely end up with the single season home run record among those who do not count the steroid era, and even with the steroid era included, he will still most likely finish top 5 or even top 3 if he keeps up the pace he had this past week. Judge has also been very good in the outfield, but that is often overshadowed by his hitting, and rightfully so. Judge has put the baseball world’s eyes back on New York, and we will see where his historic home run chase ends up going. 

There you have it. 2 legendary players with 2 legendary seasons. I hope that this allowed anyone who had been debating the MVP race online or with friends to take a step back and appreciate what we are seeing. Ohtani and Judge aren’t done yet either, with around 15 games left for each of them to continue to make history. So, let’s stop the debate, and soak in history.