Kyle Schwarber’s Season-Ending Hopes Fade Away as MLB’s Shohei Ohtani Favoritism Dominates Again, Per Insider

When it comes to the Philadelphia Phillies, they have a gem in their hands—Kyle Schwarber. In one epic night, the Phillies slugger launched four home runs against the Atlanta Braves. He became just the 21st player in MLB history to pull off such a feat. So suddenly, a race that felt dominated just by the Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani has a contending face.

Schwarber’s power surge actually puts him right on the heels of Cal Raleigh for the home run crown. He has 49, and Raleigh has 50, and he is pulling way ahead of Ohtani, who is sitting at 45 presently. Most importantly, though, Schwarber has injected a real boost to his MVO case and showed he can carry the Pirates’ offense.

Plus, the timing was epic, because just hours before that epic game with Atlanta, ESPN insiders Jesse Rogers and Buster Olney had predicted something. They said that Schwarber would take the home run title from Ohtani. Well, that aged like fine wine, didn’t it? But for Schwarber, the celebration can’t come early, because Ohtani has an edge that Bob Nightengale just highlighted.

Bob Nightengale reminded everyone that MVP means most valuable player, not the best player award. So, taking the team to the postseason is a tiebreaker. Plus, Nightingale said, “Ohtani being a two-way player makes the award his to lose every single year, providing he stays healthy.” And in the NL, if Ohtani keeps hitting and pitching like his last start, the race is over. Sure, Schwarber has more homers and RBIs, but Ohtani is leading in average, slugging, and OPS. Plus, the Dodgers’ schedule going down is softer, so it gives the reigning MVP a good runway to finish stronger.

Most importantly, Ohtani’s edge is undeniable because he is a two-way player. And that makes all the difference! And the betting metrics reflect Shohei Ohtani at ​​-1493 and Schwarber at +600. That’s the uphill battle Schwarber faces, and by the numbers his season stacks up good—49 homers, 119 RBIs. But the truth is, if Ohtani didn’t exist, maybe his resume would make him a clear-cut winner. But he is not going against a player but a phenom—the face of the game now—so it’s a tough route. As for the AL, it’s another ballgame.

A heavyweight MLB AL MVP battle is down the stretch

The American League MVP race has boiled down to a two-man fest between Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. Now, Aaron Boone, as usual, has his superstars back, saying, “Cal’s had a great year though and certainly put himself in the conversation….Those will be fun things to follow down the stretch with both teams in the playoff hunt, too. But it’s tough to ignore Aaron’s dominance.”

And on the surface, Raleigh’s sure has the shock factor right. He has clubbed 50 home runs, which is more than Judge’s 42. He did fall behind, due to his flexor injury, though. Cal Raleigh, meanwhile, set the record for most homers by a catcher in a single season. This is incredible because Seattle’s T-Mobile Park is known to be unfriendly to sluggers. Judge, meanwhile, enjoys the short porch of Yankee Stadium. But the MVP race is more than just home runs.

Aaron Judge is ahead in every other metric, like his .321 batting average and a 1.107 OPS compared to Raleigh’s .241 and .933. Plus, the betting markets reflect this with Judge at -180 and Raleigh at +140. Plus, when you get the WAR in, the debate gets even bigger. Here, Judge leads all of MLB with a 7.2 WAR, and Raleigh tags along at eight. So, these numbers make it a rather neck-to-neck race.

Plus, both the Yankees and Mariners are in the Wild Card hunt, but who is more vital for their teams’ success? Judge sure has made headlines, and Seattle, meanwhile, leans heavily on Raleigh. Without Cal, maybe the Mariners wouldn’t have been in his playoff consideration too. That’s the only thing that, apart from home runs, could give Raleigh that “edge” over Judge.