After finishing second to Shohei Ohtani in the 2021 American League MVP race, Toronto Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is saying that another batter from the American League East should win the award in 2022.
In the AL MVP debate between Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is taking Judge to win the award
While Judge may be one of the division rivals for the Toronto Blue Jays and the team the Jays are chasing in the AL East, Guerrero has seen enough of the Yankees slugger to know he is the league MVP.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the 2022 AL MVP: "To be honest, I think if they give it to Shohei Ohtani it will be another steal. Aaron Judge's numbers are way above Ohtani's. Ohtani is an excellent player, but for me, the MVP has to be Aaron Judge."@z101digital @ZDeportes pic.twitter.com/nT59bSTJcZ
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) September 15, 2022
The choice of wording from Guerrero using “another steal” is interesting as well. He finished second in the MVP voting last season to Ohtani after being named in second place on 29 of the 30 ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Ohtani, meanwhile, was a unanimous choice for the award, despite Guerrero leading all of baseball with 48 home runs and pacing AL batters with a 1.002 OPS and 167 OPS+.
This season, Judge is surpassing those numbers, entering Thursday’s play with an OPS of 1.102 and OPS+ of 208 as he chases the AL record for home runs hit in a season. Judge has 57 entering Thursday while Roger Maris of the Yankees logged 61 in 1961.
The AL MVP race is one that is causing plenty of opinions, especially with Judge chasing the home run mark and Ohtani excelling on the diamond and at the plate, defining exactly how a two-way player could impact a team in the best possible way.
Will Judge win the MVP award for the first time in his career? It sounds like one of his division rivals is certainly hoping so.