'Blazing National League MVP Race'... Ohtani vs PCA

Ohtani Shines as Two-Way Star with 30 Home Runs and 8 Wins
PCA, Born in 2002, Surges with 32 Home Runs and 8.5 WAR
Final MVP Will Be Decided by Performances in Remaining Games

Hotter than the heat wave — that’s how fierce the race for Major League Baseball’s (MLB) National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) is being described this year.

Superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the rising star Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA) of the Chicago Cubs are locked in a tight battle for the title of the National League's top player. As of the 23rd, both the Dodgers and Cubs had played 130 games. The MLB regular season consists of 162 games per team.

After Ohtani transferred from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers in 2024, the National League MVP race initially seemed unchallenging. That was because Ohtani, a rare two-way player in MLB, enjoyed overwhelming support. Dominating the league with his explosive power hitting and Cy Young-caliber pitching, he extended his rule from the American League to the National League.

Shohei Ohtani, a two-way player, continues to show consistent performance this year. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Ohtani won the American League MVP award in both 2021 and 2023 while playing for the Angels. After joining the Dodgers, he was named the National League’s top player for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025. This marked his third consecutive MVP from 2023 and the fourth of his career. In his first season with the Dodgers in 2024, he achieved a remarkable record of 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases. In 2025, he added 55 home runs and 20 stolen bases, leading the team to its second consecutive World Series championship.

Ohtani is putting up outstanding numbers again this year, batting .289 with 30 home runs, 84 runs scored, 80 RBIs, a .391 on-base percentage, and a .549 slugging percentage. Early in the season, he focused even more on winning his first-ever Cy Young Award than on MVP honors. He started 14 games, recording 8 wins, 2 losses, and a 1.79 ERA, but has not taken the mound since the July 4 game against the San Diego Padres due to pain in his left knee. He threw a bullpen session on the 19th and is expected to return as a pitcher in mid-September.

Pete Crow-Armstrong is showing top-tier skills in both offense and defense this year. Photo by AFP News Agency

The player who has checked Ohtani’s dominance is PCA, born in 2002. He was a standout prospect, selected 19th overall in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the New York Mets. He is a young player with outstanding hitting talent and elite defensive skills. This year, he is batting .279 with 32 home runs, 91 runs scored, 80 RBIs, a .377 on-base percentage, and a .554 slugging percentage.

His recent hitting has been especially hot. On the 18th, in a game against the Chicago White Sox, he led off the first inning with a home run, and then hit a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning of extra innings when the score was tied. The next day against the White Sox, he homered in his first at-bat. Since the beginning of the live-ball era, he became only the 13th player ever to hit a walk-off homer and then a home run in his first at-bat the very next game. PCA was also the first player in the league this season to join the 30 home run-30 stolen base club, and if he maintains his current pace, a 40-40 season is within reach.

Another major strength for PCA is his outstanding defensive contributions. As the Cubs’ leadoff hitter and center fielder, he boasts excellent range in the outfield. According to Fangraphs, his Outs Above Average (OAA) steadily increased from 13 in the 2024 season, to 21 last year, and 23 this year. He also posted 14 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), a metric for runs prevented by defense. Both figures rank among the very best for center fielders in the league.

PCA has increased his career tally of “5-Star Catches”—balls with a catch probability of 25% or less—to 33. That surpasses the previous record of 32 held by Kevin Kiermaier (formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays) since Statcast began tracking in 2016.

Currently, many observers believe PCA holds a slight lead over Ohtani in the MVP race. PCA’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is 8.5, ranking first in all of Major League Baseball. Ohtani, as a two-way player, follows with a WAR of 7.1.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.