Winning the bet seemed fairly reasonable. Shohei Ohtani hit 46 home runs last year. Aaron Judge hit 39 home runs last year. Naturally in March, I drove to Indiana to place a wager on Ohtani to hit more home runs than Judge for the 2022 season. Six months later, I sit here down 20 dollars as Aaron Judge batters American League pitching with a whopping 55 bombs (seven shy of the AL record) with a month of the season left. If you’re already bored, I promise that this post isn’t about my gambling failures. Rather this is about the two best players in the American League right now.

Ohtani, himself, has been no slouch at the plate. He’s slashing .270/.360/.537 with 32 homers and 85 RBI. Not bad for a guy who is toeing the mound every fifth day. Speaking of that, let’s play a game.

Pitcher A: 164.2 IP, 3.28 ERA, 204 K’s, 3.22 FIP, 117 ERA+, 1.014 WHIP.

Pitcher B: 136 IP, 2.58 ERA, 181 K’s, 2.54 FIP, 156 ERA+, 1.044 WHIP.

If you guessed that Shohei was Pitcher B, you’d be correct. Those numbers hardly do Ohtani justice. He leads the MLB in K’s per 9 (12.0) and opponents are slashing .213/.261/.344 against him.

Pitcher A is Gerrit Cole, who is having a good season in his own right, but even the perennial CY Young candidate’s numbers don’t quite rival what Shohei has done on the mound.

To be frank, Shohei Ohtani is Babe Ruth, but just a better version. Babe Ruth never had a season like Ohtani’s while simultaneously pitching and hitting. Not to mention I think it’s fair to argue it’s harder to be a Major League player now than it was back then.

At the plate, Shohei Ohtani has been comparable to Atlanta’s Austin Riley Don’t believe me?

RIley: .287/.357/.566, 152 OPS+, 35 home runs, 88 RBIs, 149 hits, .923 OPS.

Ohtani: .270/.360/.537, 151 OPS+, 32 home runs, 85 RBIs, 130 hits, .898 OPS.

The combination of Ohtani’s pitching and hitting should make him a shoo-in as the MVP once again, right? It’s a fair question and you could make a case, but that’s where “Most Valuable” gets murky.

Aaron Judge leads the AL in almost every offensive category— runs, home runs, RBIs, OBP, SLG, OPS+, walks, and total bases. If I had a vote for MVP, I’d give it to Judge right now, and here’s why.

I can make the case that the Yankees’ second-half struggles have only strengthened Judge’s MVP case.

While it’s been an uneasy time during the second half in the Bronx, Judge has kept this Yankees team from unraveling entirely in the second half.

In the 42 games he’s played in the second half, he’s .343/.484/.829 with 21 homers and 47 RBI.

While injuries have played a role in the Yankees slide, the rest of the lineup has been mostly terrible.

YANKEE REGULARS SINCE THE ALL-STAR BREAK: (Major League Average slash line for the Year: .243/.312/.395, .707 OPS)

Jose Trevino- .266/.285/.389, 3 HRs, 10 RBI, .674 OPS

Gleyber Torres- .188/.219/.292, 4 HRs, 10 RBI, .511 OPS

Josh Donaldson- .213/.306/.348, 3 HRs, 16 RBI, .654 OPS

Isiah Kiner-Falefa- .250/.304/.331 2 HRs, 12 RBI, .634 OPS

Anthony Rizzo (on IL) – .225/.328/.478 8 HRs, 14 RBI, .806 OPS

DJ LeMahieu- .226/.305/.336 4 HRs 11 RBI, .641 OPS

Aaron Hicks- .158/.257/.158 0 HRs 4 RBI, .415 OPS

Those aren’t your grandfather’s Yankees. The Yankees are 12-20 since August 1st. They saw a 15-game division lead shrink to just a four-game lead. It would be even more dire if it weren’t for Judge’s historic season.

It can’t be understated how good Judge has been defensively as well. He’s saved two defensive runs and has five outfield assists while splitting time between right field and center field.

Both Ohtani and Judge have had spectacular seasons. I still give Judge a slight edge, but Ohtani’s excellence shouldn’t go unnoticed. It makes me wish that were something like a “Most Outstanding Player” award. He’d have my vote for that without question.

(Featured Image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)