MLB Reacts: Can Shohei Ohtani be dethroned in the MVP race?

There is something happening in the National League MVP race. For the first time in what feels like recorded history Shohei Ohtani isn’t the betting favorite to win the award. While there is still a lot of season left, the man who is arguably still the best player in the world looks like he will fail to win an MVP award for the first time since 2022 and only the second time this decade.

To be completely fair, this has almost nothing to do with Ohtani. The Dodgers do-everything superstar is having a great season. He is leading the N.L. in OPS and OPS+ while sporting a 1.79 ERA and .946 ERA. Looking at the full picture of his career this is far from a step back in his surefire Hall of Fame career. But an injury suffered in early July has kept him off the mound for more than a month and may prevent him from pitching again until the postseason. For now the Dodgers will just have to settle for him being an outrageously elite hitter.

But with that tiniest of cracks, a new contender has emerged. Pete Crow-Armstrong, the 24-year old centerfielder for the Chicago Cubs, is having a career year. The All-Star has an MLB-leading 7.5 WAR and will almost certainly reach the 30/30 mark again this season (needing only four more home runs, he could do it this week) with the 40/40 club still an outside possibility. But like Ohtani, PCA isn’t in poll-position for MVP just because of his work at the plate. He is an elite outfielder. He set the record this season for most five-star outfield catches, a stat counting each time an outfielder makes a catch with a 25% or worse catch probability. The defending Gold Glove winner will likely win his second award this season.

What Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong are doing is nothing short of historic. There are other players who would be in the MVP conversation in a normal season, including Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber who leads the N.L. in home runs and Milwaukee Brewers ace pitcher Jacob Misiorowski who looks like a lock for Cy Young.

In this week’s Reacts question, we want to know who you think will actually win the award this year? Will PCA pull it off and take the crown or will the weight of Ohtani’s excellence hold court? Be on the lookout for results to this and all Reacts surveys later this week.