Ohtani is almost certain to win his third career MVP award this season. If he still played in the American League, however, he’d likely finish second.
That’s because Judge, the Yankees’ hulking 6-foot-7, $360-million center fielder, had one of the most productive offensive seasons in Major League Baseball history.
It’s not just that the veteran slugger led MLB with 58 home runs, 144 RBIs, a 1.159 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and 133 walks. But he did it in a season when hitting numbers were down across the board.
Because of that, Judge’s OPS+ (an all-encompassing metric that normalizes overall production relative to the rest of the league) was a whopping 223.
For reference, only three NL or AL players in MLB’s modern era have had a higher OPS+ in a season — and their names were Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.
Despite all that, Judge’s postseason has been a grind. In the division series against Kansas City, he was just two for 13 with zero RBIs, albeit while walking five times. And while he had some big moments in the ALCS, including late home runs in Games 2 and 3, he still batted just .167 (three for 18) in the series.
If there’s one hole in Judge’s game, it is his penchant to swing and miss. Although he led the majors in walks, he also struck out 177 times, fanning on more than 40% of non-fastballs he swung at.
