Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani won the 2025 National League MVP Award, with Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto rounding out the top three.
This year, Soto is ready to make a run at challenging Ohtani for the award. Soto knows chasing Ohtani won’t be easy, but he is ready for the challenge.
“I’m going to be there every year, too,” Soto said, via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “So he better keep doing what he’s doing, because I’m coming.”
“He’s really good. He’s really good,” Soto added. “I’ve just got to beat him. Definitely, it’s not going to be easy, but I’ve got to find a way to beat him.”
Soto now has back-to-back third-place finishes, although the 2024 results were when he was in the American League. That season, Soto’s teammate, Aaron Judge, won the AL MVP award.
Ohtani has four MVP awards, two with the Dodgers and two with the Los Angeles Angels.
Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets last offseason. He then hit .263 with 43 home runs and 105 RBIs, although he was surprisingly snubbed from the NL All-Star team.
Still, he finished with impressive numbers, and he was just behind Schwarber for second place in the NL MVP award voting.
The Mets made plenty of changes to the roster this offseason, including seeing Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz leave, but also adding Luis Robert Jr., Bo Bichette and acquiring Freddy Peralta in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Soto-Ohtani NL MVP race could be going on for years to come.
