American League MVP Updated Odds and Analysis
Shohei Ohtani is leading the pack once again in the AL MVP race but there are various players who are looking to prevent him from going back-to-back. Read AL MVP candidate odds and analysis by Sportsmemo MLB handicapper JM Sports! Stay up-to-date with the current odds from DraftKings!
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American League Players | AL MVP Odds Updated on Thursday, May 12 |
---|---|
Shohei Ohtani | +200 |
Mike Trout | +450 |
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | +500 |
Aaron Judge | +800 |
Byron Buxton | +1000 |
Jose Ramirez | +1200 |
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Shohei Ohtani
The top of the American League ranking is giving plenty of love to Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani was the favorite in the odds for the MVP at the end of April and the only difference now is that his odds have gotten better, moving from (+290) and currently sitting at (+200).
Ohtani may rank 69th in batting average hitting just .258, but he has been essential in terms of run production, ranking 3rd in the league accounting for 39 runs.
He ranks 4th in the league in runs scored, crossing the plate 24 times, scoring in over 53% of the times he has been on base (32 hits, reached on an error 2 times & 11 walks)! At the same time, he ranks 14th driving in 21 RBI’s so far this season, accounting for a good chunk of his teams offensive production, with the help of a .770 OPS.
Mike Trout
Coming in at #2 in the American League rankings is Ohtani’s partner in crime and the teammate that has accounted for a majority of the offensive production for the Angels that isn’t centered around Shohei, Mike Trout.
Trout was 3rd in the odds at the end of April, but now he has closed the gap between him and his teammate at the top of the list, improving his odds from (+800) to (+450), the 2nd best odds in the AL.
Trout is one of the few active players that have already brought home this title more than once winning the AL MVP in 2016 and 2019, joining Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols and Bryce Harper as the active, multi-year winners of the MVP trophy, and now he is back near the top of the list yet again!
Trout has been a top 10 talent in nearly every major offensive statistical category, hitting .337 (7th in the MLB) and producing the 8th most runs in the league (35).
He is 2nd in the league with 9 HR’s and he is 3rd in the MLB with 25 runs scored, while also driving in 19 runs! Trout has posted an incredible 1.183 OPS (2nd in the MLB) and his +2.6 WAR also ranks 2nd in the league!
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Another young phenom has made his way to the list, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who could have arguably been last season’s AL MVP and now he is back with a vengeance.
While Guerrero has yet to win a MVP trophy in his young career, he looks to bring home the 2nd trophy to his family, to go alongside the MVP title his dad took home in 2004. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. definitely has a shot to tie his dad for MVP trophies, or even surpass him down the line in his career, DraftKings currently has Guerrero at (+500) odds to win the AL crown, the 3rd best odds currently.
Vlad Jr. is hitting .287 so far this season, but he ranks 8th in HR’s, blasting 7 bombs thus far, helping the teams offensive production and putting him at 41st in the league in runs produced with 27. He has driven in 19 RBI’s early in this season, while also crossing the plate 15 times himself.
Guerrero has positioned himself in the top 25 in OPS, ranking 21st with a .881 and adding nearly a full win to the team with a +0.9 WAR. When you put that all together, it has resulted in a 17-14 record for a Blue Jays team that is currently 3rd in the AL East and 5 games back of New York, but still 6th in the American League.
Aaron Judge
Next on the list, the slugger from the Bronx, leading the league with 10 HR’s, Aaron Judge currently sits 4th in the rankings at (+800) to win the American League Most Valuable Player. Judge has gotten back to his dominating ways and has been a crucial part of the overflow of the Yankee’s offensive production.
He currently ranks 34th in batting average, hitting .290, but he is 6th in OPS, finding a way on base, with some pop on the ball, posting an impressive .982 OPS.
Judge has produced 33 runs this season so far, good for 12th in the league, scoring 21 runs himself (7th in the league) and driving in 22 RBI’s (9th in the league), when you negate the 10 HR’s counted in both categories, you get one of the most essential offensive pieces in the league.
He currently sits at a +1.6 WAR, 12th in the league, and as he steps up and performs to the caliber of his crucial role, it has given the Yankees the best record in the American League! New York is 21-8, sitting as the top team in the AL East currently, 4 games ahead of Tampa Bay, and not only do they have the best record in the AL, but they currently hold the best record in all of the MLB.
Byron Buxton
While not to many good things have seemingly come from the AL Central this season, the next two MVP candidates may beg to differ.
Byron Buxton has helped lift Minnesota into the top position in the AL Central, posting an 18-12 record and currently sitting 2.5 games ahead of the White Sox for the 4th best record in the American League. As it stands, Buxton sits 5th in the odds in the American League at (+1000), even though he has played just 19 games and appeared for 72 plate appearances.
Regardless of the fact that Buxton has posted enough plate appearances to even be considered for the statistical rankings, he still ranks 2nd in the league in home runs, hitting 9 bombs in those limited plate appearances!
He has produced 25 runs himself thus far, accounting for over a run per game he has played, ranking in the top 40 in the league with 17 runs scored (28th in the MLB) and driving in 17 RBI’s (34th in the league).
As I mentioned, he doesn’t count in the league rankings, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he is hitting .278 with a 1.064 OPS! Buxton is essential to the success of Minnesota and it shows with a +1.4 WAR, 15th best in the MLB.
Jose Ramirez
The 6th player on the list is the only player that made the list in the American League that comes from a team that doesn’t have a winning record.
Jose Ramirez and the new Cleveland Guardians showed us what a hot start looks like, especially offensively, and even though the Guardians have had their up’s and downs and currently sit at .500 with a 15-15 record, good for the 3rd spot currently in the AL Central, Jose Ramirez still has yet to slow down.
The key to the success for Jose this season, and the key to his (+1100) odds to win the AL MVP, has been the unstoppable run production from the Guardian’s third baseman. Ramirez, as Cleveland has called him, has produced the 2nd most runs in the MLB (just 1 run behind Machado for the lead), and the most in the American League, with 41 runs!
He has crossed the plate 18 times himself, 20th in the MLB, while leading the league in RBI’s, driving in 30 runs on the season!
A chunk of that has come from 8 home runs, including 2 grand slams, which ranks 8th in the MLB and inflating his OPS to .996, which is 6th best in the MLB. There is no question that Jose Ramirez is the best position player on the Guardians and a +1.7 WAR (6th best in the league) proves that he is one of the best players in the league!
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