PCA home run boom → Ohtani 'You too? Me too' 6th consecutive 30-home run season... Intense MVP race between 'Lee Do-ryu VS Gong-su perfect outfielder'

*This content was translated by AI.

An intense competition for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) is unfolding in Major League Baseball (MLB). Shohei Ohtani (32, Los Angeles Dodgers), who is challenging for the MVP award for the fourth consecutive year, and Pete Crow-Armstrong (24, Chicago Cubs), considered an even stronger MVP candidate, are heating up the competition by hitting home runs day after day.

On the 19th (Korea time), Ohtani started as the designated hitter in a road game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, and hit three home runs in the third inning.

With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning and no outs with a runner on first base, Ohtani took aim at Ryan Feltner's opening curveball from the opposing starter and sent it soaring over the left-center field wall.

Ohtani, who hit multiple home runs in the previous game, added another home run today to reach his 30th of the season. Since starting his MLB career with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018, Ohtani has recorded six consecutive seasons of 30 or more home runs, beginning with 46 home runs in 2021.

While this performance now seems routine, it is only the seventh time in franchise history that a Dodger has hit 30 or more home runs for three consecutive years. It also marks the first time in 25 years since Gary Sheffield (1999–2001), who played alongside Lee Do-ryu, achieved this feat.

During this period, Ohtani has been named MVP four times out of five seasons. In addition to his two-way play in 2021 and 2023 (44 home runs), he hit 54 home runs as a designated hitter in 2024 and 55 home runs in 2025.

This season, after surgery, Ohtani returned to pitching, appearing in 14 games over 85⅔ innings with an 8-2 record and a 1.79 ERA, delivering dominant performances. However, since the game against the San Diego Padres on the 4th (6 innings, 3 earned runs), he has complained of knee pain and has only played as a hitter since then.

Meanwhile, Pete Crow-Armstrong has been making a fierce charge. Today, he hit a solo home run to left-center field in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox, his 31st of the season.

After debuting in the 2023 season and hitting 10 home runs in 2024 and 31 in last year, Crow-Armstrong has shown remarkable growth. This season, in 127 games, he is batting .282 with 31 home runs, 79 RBIs, 90 runs scored, and 31 stolen bases, posting a .381 on-base percentage, .555 slugging percentage, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.936. Today marked his third consecutive game with a home run and tied his career-high for most home runs in a season.

In addition to his hitting ability, Crow-Armstrong's speed and overwhelming defensive skills have propelled him to the top with an fWAR (fanGraphs Wins Above Replacement) of 8.2. Ohtani, who does not play defense, has recorded a WAR of 4.0 as a position player. As a pitcher, he has only reached 3.0 due to limited innings pitched. Even combining his pitching and hitting WAR totals 7.0, which would place him second, but still falls short of Crow-Armstrong's total.

In the years Ohtani won MVP as a two-way player—2021 and 2023—he posted an overwhelming first-place record when combining his pitching and hitting WAR.

Currently, the balance seems to be tipping in favor of Crow-Armstrong over Ohtani. The most effective way for Ohtani to close this gap would be to return to pitching and achieve 10 wins, thereby enhancing his symbolic value. Of course, it is difficult to surpass Crow-Armstrong in the numbers with short-term performance alone. However, since MVP is determined by voting, Ohtani's unique two-way performances earn him significant bonus points. The symbolism of achieving 10 wins as a pitcher further strengthens this argument.

Ohtani is working hard to return to pitching as soon as possible. After taking his first bullpen session ahead of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers on the 15th, he took the mound again today and threw 35 pitches.

Manager Dave Roberts stated, "The next step in Ohtani's return to pitching could be throwing live batting practice," previewing live pitching sessions. If there are no issues here, the next step could be a real-game appearance.

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*This content was translated by AI.