Judge, Ohtani and that damned V word

Who do you like for the American League's most prestigious award?

Let’s get this out of the way right now.

Shohei Ohtani is the most remarkable athlete in American professional sports today and probably for a lot of yesterdays. 

He is fourth in the American League in OPS and fourth in home runs. He is third in slugging percentage.

As a pitcher he is fifth in ERA, third in strikeouts, fifth in wins with a 13-8 record on a team that is 65-83, seventh in WHIP, and first among qualified pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings.

He will get votes for the American League Most Valuable Player award he won last year, and he will get votes for the Cy Young Award. There has been no baseball player with such virtuosity since Babe Ruth, and Chuck Bednarik was the last NFL player who distinguished himself on both sides of the ball. Even so, “Concrete Charlie” was a linebacker and a center. What Ohtani is doing is the equivalent of throwing 40 touchdown passes in a season and also putting up 15 sacks.

So in 2022 Ohtani would easily qualify for whatever award you want to give him, whether it be Unicorn of the Year, Best Player, Most Consistent Breath-Taker, Top Super-Freak, you name it.

He shouldn’t be the MVP.

I’m not sure which scoundrel decided “Valuable” should be the keyword of that award, but that person has caused extreme agita and even furniture damage among those in the Baseball Writers Association of America who vote on it and take it seriously.

Ohtani is supremely valuable to the Angels, because he is one of the two players, with Mike Trout, worth the ticket price. Although you can make the case that the team from Anaheim is the most disappointing in baseball, that team also has the fourth highest attendance increase in the A.L.

But to me, “valuable” can only be judged in the context of the championship season. Who was the most instrumental and influential player in the league? Who had the most impact in the standings; who made the most difference? What were you “valuable” to, and how “valuable” is that?

Under those guidelines it isn’t close.

Ohtani’s team would have finished up the track regardless of what he did.

The Yankees would not be in line for an A.L. East title and a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs if Aaron Judge’s baseball footprint had not matched his real one.

This does not mean the Angels are Ohtani’s fault, of course. It also does not mean that people who deny him the vote are “haters.” Demarcus Cousins had some all-star seasons in the employ of the Sacramento Kings, when they were bringing up the rear of the NBA, as they still are. Nobody considered him an MVP candidate.

Judge is leading the A.L. in home runs (60), RBI (128), batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.419), slugging (.703), OPS (1.123), and runs (60). He is in position to not only win a conventional Triple Crown (average, homers, RBI) but the more fashionable Slash Crown (batting average, on-base and slugging). 

He also has played centerfield, an unnatural spot which helps the Yankees put their best team on the field, and he has been leading off, which makes his RBI total even more staggering.

Consider the margins by which Judge has reigned supreme.

Kyle Schwarber has 40 home runs. He is second in the majors to Judge, and 20 behind him.

Freddie Freeman has an OPS of .927. That is fourth in baseball, and is .196 behind Judge.

Yordan Alvarez has a slug number of .626. That is second in baseball, and is 0.77 behind Judge.

Paul Goldschmidt has 112 runs batted in. That is fourth in baseball, and 16 behind Judge.

One of the refreshing things about having a drug policy, with drug testing, is that few people are giving you the side-eye about Judge’s power surge. There were no such guardrails when Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were eclipsing the Babe. They did what they did under the conditions they were given, of course, so they deserve no asterisks.

However, look at 2001. Bonds hit 73, but was only nine ahead of Sosa and 16 ahead of Luis Gonzalez. In 1999 McGwire hit 65 and Sosa 63; in 1998 McGwire hit 70, Sosa 66 and Ken Giffey Jr. 56.

But the naked numbers don’t tell you about value, either. If so, Wilt Chamberlain would have been the permanent NBA MVP. 

What’s important is when you do it. In his past 56 games, with the Yankees straining under injuries and bullpen problems and with opponents seeing no real reason to throw Judge anything worth hitting, Judge has hit 29 home runs. With runners in scoring position this year, he is hitting .371 with a .775 slugging percentage.

On Tuesday, Judge launched his 60th home in the ninth inning, in a game that appeared lost. Then Giancarlo Stanton grand-slammed New York to victory later in the inning. Stanton has played only 100 games and is hitting .210. Former batting champ D.J. LeMahieu is hitting .262 and playing hurt. Who knows how the numbers soar if Judge has their full support?

Judge has 56 more RBI than Anthony Rizzo, who has the second most among Yankees. He has 28 more homers than Rizzo, again the runnerup. Rizzo (.839) and Judge are the only regular Yankees who have an OPS over .800. Judge isn’t just a player, he’s a monster truck, with a rich roster tied to his bumper, along for the ride.

That’s why you can credulously say that Ohtani, Anthony Rendon, Jennifer Lopez, Dennis Rodman, Harry Styles, and you and I have one thing in common. None of them have had anything to do with who is winning and losing in baseball 2022.

So you may ask why Ohtani won the MVP in 2021, when the Angels were 77–85. I would have voted for him.

He had a better OPS (.965) than today, and hit 46 home runs. Mainly, he had lesser competition. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was his closest rival statistically, and the Blue Jays (again, no fault of his) weren’t real contenders. Judge was around, with 39 homers and 98 RBI, and finished fourth, but he was basically part of the Yankee show, not the ringmaster.

The BBWAA is becoming less enamored with the relevance of its candidates. Last year Brandon Crawford of the Giants was the linchpin of a 107-win season, but he wasn’t a finalist in the N.L. vote. Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. were. None played in the postseason.

There is no groundswell to change the name of the award, although there are suggestions that it should be named after Frank Robinson (and not Bonds, who won seven). 

And in a month when nothing else is being decided except for the fate of the Brewers and the seeding of teams who have known they were playoff-bound since Mother’s Day, perhaps the sake of argument is sake enough.