So I just checked today's updated stats. Ohtani is pitching .600 ball for a .433 team, ranking 4th in strikeouts and 6th in ERA. Batting-wise, he's 2nd in Total Bases, 3rd in Homers and Runs Created, 4th in Slugging and Extra Base Hits, 5th in OPS+ and RBIs. You get the idea. Even more impressive overall than last year. The most amazing player ever, which doesn't mean best ever of course.
Putting it in perspective, he's hitting like an average season for Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell and pitching like an average season for Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez (based on their career OPS+ and ERA+).
Impressive, but he's not the AL MVP. The Angels would probably better without him.
How would they be better without him?
Admittedly, my comment was a bit of hyperbole. The more accurate point was that the Angels would probably be in the same position (4th place in the division and 21 "games under .500") without him. And, if the rest of the team weren't sitting around marveling at him, they might do something on their own.
The Yankees have a losing record during Judge’s red-hot 2nd half. So . . . ?
Alternatively, Judge is probably the reason they're in first place right now.
Exactly. Obviously, there are two camps with the MVP: those who think it should go to the most outstanding player - regardless of how much impact he does or doesn't have on his team - and those who focus is on how valuable the player is to his team. I tend to be in the latter camp and think that Judge has been much more important to the Yankees than Ohtani has been to the Angels.
In other news, my son and I made what's becoming an annual trip out to Phoenix to watch the Dodgers play the D-backs. We were treated to a briskly played game (2:37 game time) and a 6-0 Dodgers win. The stadium was probably 2/3 full, and I'd bet that 75% of the crowd were Dodger fans. I just wish there were more things to do in Phoenix that didn't involve being outside. On the other hand, we got to go to Fuddruckers for the first time since they closed the last SoCal store in 2019 or early 2020.
The Dodgers clinched the NL west the day after we were there and they're the only team to have clinched a playoff birth. Looking at the standings on ESPN:
The Yankees have a 6 game lead in the AL east, and ESPN says they have a 99.9+% chance of making the playoffs. Same with the Trashtros in the AL west. The
Indians Guardians are up by 4 in the AL central. For the three wild cards, the Jays, Rays and Mariners are all listed with a 95+% chance of making the playoffs (although the Orioles are only 4 games back of the Rays), so it looks like the 6 AL teams are pretty well set, with only the order TBD.
In the NL, the Mets and Braves are separated in the NL east by only half a game, while the Cardinals have a comfortable 8-game lead in the Central. Whichever of the Mets or Braves that doesn't win the east will get a wild card, and Philly seems to have another spot locked up. The Padres and Brewers are separated by 2 games for the final wild card spot. The Braves and Mets play in the second to last series of the year, so that could be for all the marbles. In the meantime, the Braves have six games against the Nats and seven against the Phillies. The Mets seem to have an easier schedule, with nine games against the Pirates/A's/Marlins (three of the six teams who have been officially eliminated from playoff contention) and a 3-game series against the Brewers being their only games against a good team.