Where AL MVP odds stand heading into second half of season

The American League MVP seems to be a two-horse race at the midway point of the season, with the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge a serious contender, but the reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani is currently the odds-on favorite to win the honor for a second straight season.

2022 AL MVP odds at All-Star Break

Judge seemingly has every award under the sun already during his six-year MLB career. But he has actually still not won an AL MVP award. This could be the year for him, with odds at +150 to take home the hardware. He’s just one of two players who have odds better than +1000 to win the honor, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. He’s been dominant at the plate this season, hitting .284 with an MLB-best 33 home runs at the break. He also leads the MLB in runs scored with 74. He’s also on pace for 140 RBIs this season, which would shatter his previous career high of 114.

In most other universes, that would be more than enough to win the MVP. But Ohtani exists in this universe. The Los Angeles Angels’ do-everything player has the best odds to win the MVP, currently going off at -115. He started the season slow, but has been absolutely insane as of late both at the plate and on the mound. He has 19 home runs on the season and has 56 RBIs so far. On the hill, he boasts a 2.38 ERA and has given up just 23 earned runs in 87 innings. He’s allowed just one earned run in his last 32.2 innings pitched, has struck out 52 hitters, giving up just 16 hits in that span.

Judge is beyond solid this season, but Ohtani’s red-hot finish to the first half and overall two-way playing ability should give him the nod again.

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