As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May

Jun 04, 2025

As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees Aaron Judge were selected side by side as the `May Player.' Photo = MLB Official X Account



As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani hits a superior solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning against the New York Mets on the 3rd (Korea time). AP Yonhap News
As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
New York Yankees Aaron Judge hits a solo home run in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 1st (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News
This season's competition for MVP in both leagues is in the mood of last year's copy.

The AL is Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers are ranked first in the league MVP competition with overwhelming performance.

First of all, the two players were selected side by side as the two leagues 'Players of the Month', and it seems that they have begun a full-fledged MVP hunt. MLB announced on the 4th (Korea Standard Time) that the AL was selected as Judge and NL as "Players of the Month" evaluated over May.




Judge appeared in 26 games in May, batting average of 0.364 (36 hits in 99 at-bats), 11 homers, 18 RBIs, 25 runs, an on-base percentage of 0.453, a slugging percentage of 0.798, and an OPS of 1.251. He was selected as the player of the month for the second time in a row and the 11th player of the month after last month.

Ohtani hit .309 (34 hits in 110 at-bats), 15 homers, 27 RBIs, 31 runs scored, 0.398 on-base percentage, 0.782 slugging percentage and 1.180, in May. This month's player is the first this season, the second since moving to the Dodgers and the sixth in his career.

In the midst of this, MLB.com announced the results of the mock voting for MVP of both leagues on the 3rd in an article titled 「The recent voting on MVP of both leagues shows that the dominant phenomenon is still present」. The AL's Judge and the NL's Ohtani each ranked first.




Reporter Jason Foster, who wrote the article, said '41 panel of experts voted for the combined performance so far and expectations for the rest of the season. Each expert selected five players who wanted to give a vote and ranked 1st to 5th to calculate the total score.

The AL MVP had little disagreement. Forty out of 41 people gave Judge the top vote. The other one voted first for Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh ranks first in the AL home run rankings with 23 home runs. That's all.

As of today, Judge ranks first in the batting average (0.391), on-base percentage (0.485), slugging percentage (0.764), OPS (1.249), hits (86), and Ruta (168). He is third with 21 home runs, fifth with 50 RBIs, and second with 55 runs.




Reporter Foster commented on Judge saying 'AL MVP is still the dominant system, so why not? Judge stands out in almost all categories this season. He is cruising toward the AL MVP for the second year in a row and the third MVP in his career, he said.

After Judge, Rowley ranked second, Bobby Witt Jr. of Kansas City ranked third, Jose Ramirez of Cleveland ranked fourth, and Rafael Devers of Boston and Tarik Scubal of Detroit tied for fifth.

As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
New York Yankees Aaron Judge is staring somewhere in the waiting at-bat in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 2nd (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News
As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
Shohei Otani is running around the base vigorously after hitting a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Mets on the 3rd (Korea time). AFP Yonhap News
Ohtani received first place votes from 31 out of 41. He is tied for first place in homers (23), and the lone top scorer (64) in both leagues. He is also No. 1 in slugging percentage (0.661), No. 2 in OPS (1.047) and No. 1 in Ruta (154). However, bWAR is 3.0, second only to Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (3.6). In fWAR, Judge ranks first overall with 5.1 and Raleigh ranks second with 3.8. Crow-Armstrong and Ohtani are then ranked 3rd and 4th overall with 3.5 and 3.2, respectively, and 1st and 2nd in the NL.

Reporter Foster said 'Otani only hit 0.260 with an OPS of 0.84 in the first 24 games of the season. The figure is below expectations because it was right after last year's 50-50 home run and steal season. However, since then, he has posted a batting average of 0.316, 17 home runs, and an OPS of 1.196. How is it? 'He is steadily preparing to return to the mound. We can aim for another unanimous MVP, he said.

Ohtani pulled Mets right-hander Max Kranick's 80.6-mile first pitch curve in the bottom of the seventh inning, trailing 0-2 against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium, and fired a solo shot that flew well over the right fence. It is the first time in three days that Ohtani hit a home run since he hit two against the New York Yankees on the 31st of last month.

After Ohtani, Crow-Armstrong came in second with five first-place votes, followed by Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Corbin Carroll (Arizona), and Kyle Tucker (Cubs).

As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
New York Yankees Aaron Judge hits a solo home run in left-center in the top of the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 1st (Korea time). ImagesYonhap News
As expected, this year! In two months, the MVP of both leagues was completed, and Ohtani Jersey was selected as a player in May
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani hits in the fifth inning against the New York Yankees on the 1st (Korea time) and talks with first base coach Chris Woodward. AFP Yonhap News
At the current pace, Judge and Ohtani should be considered MVP again this year. As reporter Foster put it, it is highly likely that the solo system, that is, 'competition without specific competitors', will continue until the end of the season. In particular, in the case of NL, if Ohtani returns as a pitcher in the second half of the year, he could recreate the myth of a combined pitching and hitting during the Los Angeles Angels, making the unanimous MVP a reality again. If the ace's majesty is restored, it is as if a tiger flies its wings.

Judge is cruising toward his third career MVP after 2022 and last year, and Ohtani is fourth MVP after 2021, 2023 and 2024.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.