Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani spoke to the media amid the team’s six-game losing streak, and he faced questions about Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong’s spot in the MVP race.
On Wednesday, August 5th, Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong went head-to-head in a great battle of stars.
The Cubs outfielder went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two home runs, while Ohtani went 3-for-5 as well with a pair of home runs and three RBIs.
Following the electric game from both stars, Ohtani was asked about how he felt about the race.
“He’s [PCA] a great player, but I’m really focused on myself right now,” Ohtani said. “On the hitting side of things and working toward getting back on the mound and working on that side of the game.”
How the NL MVP looks
Ohtani, the odds-on favorite to win the award for most of the season, has seen his odds fall as his pitching has slowed and his home run trajectory has fallen.
On the season, Ohtani is hitting .293/.399/.554, with 26 home runs and 70 RBIs. His wRC+ is still amazing at 150, while his hitting fWAR is 3.4.
Pair that with his 3.0 pitching fWAR and 1.79 ERA, and he is having an incredible season overall, but in Chicago, someone else is also having a great season.
Crow-Armstrong, also known as PCA, has a slightly better wRC+ at 152, hitting .288/.386/.552 with 26 home runs (the same as Ohtani) and 69 RBIs.
Along with his hitting, PCA is delivering elite fielding plays, with great glove work and range. Of any player in baseball, PCA has the highest defensive rating of 21.5 on FanGraphs. The second best is Bobby Witt Jr., with a 17.6 rating.
His elite defense, with his hitting being on par with Ohtani, has started to build a case against Ohtani defending his MVP again.
When comparing fWAR, PCA has the edge, with 7.5 compared to Ohtani’s 6.4 fWAR total. BWAR is closer, with Ohtani at 6.2 total and PCA at 7.0.
However, Ohtani is only hitting for the foreseeable future, and he has not pitched in a month at this point, hurting his total WAR value.
The issue for Ohtani will be that his pitching may not return until September given his patient approach, meaning he will need to either set himself apart at the plate or risk PCA ending his MVP run.
Ohtani has been able to sustain this elite level of play for a full season, but PCA now has pressure to keep the ball rolling as Shohei will not drop off much more and will likely only trend upward.
