Let’s face it. The race for the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award is over.
You know, I know, everybody knows that Shohei Ohtani will be handed his second MVP trophy in November, after what will almost certainly be a unanimous vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Ohtani, of course, is one of the greatest hitters and pitchers in baseball today, simultaneously excelling in both facets of the game as no one has before. (No, not even Babe Ruth.)
His superiority is documented by my latest calculations of offensive base values. Ohtani posted a BV of plus-161 for the Los Angeles Angels through August 15, when the 2023 season reached the three-quarters mark. The runner-up in the American League’s BV standings at that date was Corey Seager of the Texas Rangers at plus-97, a full 64 bases behind Ohtani.
Base value is a comparison of these two figures: (1) the bases that a particular player attained through hits, walks, stolen bases, hit batters, and sacrifices, and (2) the bases that the average big-league player would have reached in the same number of plate appearances. Click here to learn more.
You can think of it this way: Ohtani piled up 161 more bases than the typical major leaguer would have reached under the same conditions in the first three-quarters of 2023’s schedule. He easily outstripped the performances of everybody else in the American League, and that’s without adding his impressive pitching statistics to the balance.
Is there any doubt that he deserves another MVP Award to join the one he picked up in 2021?
Most Valuable Player honors almost always go to position players — no pure pitcher has won since Clayton Kershaw in the National League in 2014 — so I’m using offensive base values to determine this year’s MVP standings.
Look below to see the 20 American League leaders in offensive BV at the three-quarters pole, followed by a team-by-team list of BV leaders. We’ll give the National League the same treatment tomorrow.
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AL top 20 offensive base values
1. Shohei Ohtani, Angels, BV 161
2. Corey Seager, Rangers, BV 97
3. Kyle Tucker, Astros, BV 90
4. Aaron Judge, Yankees, BV 82
5. Luis Robert Jr., White Sox, BV 70
6. Yordan Alvarez, Astros, BV 61
7. Jose Ramirez, Guardians, BV 60
8. Adolis Garcia, Rangers, BV 59
9. Yandy Diaz, Rays, BV 58
10. Jose Altuve, Astros, BV 55
10. Chas McCormick, Astros, BV 55
12. Marcus Semien, Rangers, BV 52
13. Bobby Witt, Royals, BV 50
14. Mike Trout, Angels, BV 46
15. Jarren Duran, Red Sox, BV 44
15. Wander Franco, Rays, BV 44
17. Luke Raley, Rays, BV 43
18. Rafael Devers, Red Sox, BV 42
18. Isaac Paredes, Rays, BV 42
20. Justin Turner, Red Sox, BV 37
AL leaders by club
Angels — Shohei Ohtani, BV 161
Astros — Kyle Tucker, BV 90
Athletics — Ryan Noda, BV 32
Blue Jays — Brandon Belt, BV 30
Guardians — Jose Ramirez, BV 60
Mariners — J.P. Crawford, BV 30
Orioles — Cedric Mullins, BV 29
Rangers — Corey Seager, BV 97
Rays — Yandy Diaz, BV 58
Red Sox — Jarren Duran, BV 44
Royals — Bobby Witt, BV 50
Tigers — Riley Greene, BV 28
Twins — Edouard Julien, BV 31
White Sox — Luis Robert Jr., BV 70
Yankees — Aaron Judge, BV 82