The debate has raged over who should win American League MVP this season: Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani?
Ohtani was named AL MVP last year after smacking 46 home runs as a hitter, while going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA as a pitcher. This year, he had a dropoff in the power department as a hitter (34 home runs), but countered that by becoming a more dominant pitcher (15-8, 2.35 ERA).
On the other hand, Aaron Judge has slugged 62 home runs while playing center field and leading the New York Yankees to AL East title.
Marcus Stroman, who went 6-7 with a 3.50 ERA for the Cubs this season and was an All-Star in 2019, shared his pick for the award.
Stroman tweeted on Tuesday night that Ohtani would be his choice.
Judge is having one of the most historic seasons of all-time…but how do you not give the MVP to Ohtani? What he’s doing has never been done before and may never happen again! Both players are more than deserving! There’s no wrong option!
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) October 4, 2022
Ohtani has 34 homers as a hitter and over 200 K’s as a pitcher. That is insane. Mythical god disguised as an MLB player. My easy choice for MVP! 🐐 https://t.co/e9RkIqhXu9
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) October 4, 2022
“Judge is having one of the most historic seasons of all-time…but how do you not give the MVP to Ohtani? What he’s doing has never been done before and may never happen again! Both players are more than deserving! There’s no wrong option!” Stroman tweeted. “Ohtani has 34 homers as a hitter and over 200 K’s as a pitcher. That is insane. Mythical god disguised as an MLB player. My easy choice for MVP!”
A day after Judge hit his 62nd home run of the season, which broke Roger Maris’s American League record, Ohtani reminded everyone what makes him so special. He threw five innings of one-hit ball against the Oakland A’s, just days after taking a no-hitter deep into his previous start against Oakland.
Thanks to his outing on Wednesday, Ohtani became the first player to ever qualify as both a hitter and pitcher. He’s also 4th in ERA+ and OPS+, which are considered some of the best statistical measures of a hitter/pitcher’s effectiveness.
Imagine being the first MLB player ever to rack up enough innings and plate appearances in one season to qualify as both a pitcher and a hitter.
Now imagine being 4th in ERA+ & 4th in OPS+ while doing it.
Shohei Ohtani has had a season like no one else in history. pic.twitter.com/hOacS5PSye
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 5, 2022
Here is another tweet that places Ohtani’s season in context.
In 2022, Shohei Ohtani has:
-More home runs than Giancarlo Stanton
-Higher batting average than Mookie Betts
-Lower ERA than Gerrit Cole
-More strikeouts than Justin Verlander pic.twitter.com/rQaOORge1N— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 5, 2022
There is a lot of sentiment favoring Judge to win the award, but Stroman has made his pick.
