LA Angels: 3 MVP candidates competing with Shohei Ohtani

2 of 3

Shohei Ohtani is the Most Valuable Player in the American League so far.

The three-way player, Shohei Ohtani is tied for second in the AL with 14 home runs, sports a 2.37 ERA in six starts on the mound, has elite speed, and can even play in the field. The LA Angels are blessed to have a player who has both an elite arm and an elite bat.

That being said, Ohtani still has competition for the MVP award. He’s in the top three among AL hitters in slugging percentage (.619), and top nine in runs scored (32), runs batted in (35), and OPS (.938). He’s top seven in AL ERA among starting pitchers with six or more starts. With all that being said, the American League has a few guys who are also playing out of their minds.

The first is the son of an Angels legend.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a freak. Defensively, he’s made a total of one error in 37 games. Offensively, he’s a juggernaut.

He’s tied for third in AL batting average at .333, second in on-base percentage at .443, and leads the league in both slugging percentage (.661) and home runs (15). With 39 RBI, he’s tied for second in the American League.

He walks more than he strikes out, which can be rare for a slugger like Guerrero. His hard-hit percentage is almost at 40%, and he leads the league in fWAR (3.0).

The guy’s OPS+ is 202. He’s truly incredible, and it’s safe to count on him sustaining this success. He didn’t miss a single game last year.

He’ll be competing with Ohtani all year.

May 22, 2021; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports /

Gerrit Cole is on a mission to break the trend of pitchers not winning MVPs.

The last pitcher to win an MVP was Clayton Kershaw in 2014, and the last pitcher to win an AL MVP was Justin Verlander in 2011.

It’s tough to win an AL MVP as a pitcher. National League pitchers don’t have to worry about facing a DH anywhere near as much, and they get a free out in every lineup most games.

Gerrit Cole‘s just different. His fWAR is at 2.8, a full game higher than the next AL starting pitcher.

He’s third in the AL in ERA (1.81), second in the AL in K/9 with 12.80 Ks, and second in BB/9 with 1.11 BBs. He’s allowing an absurdly low .191 batting average against him.

Nobody can hit Cole. Nobody can hit Ohtani either, but obviously Cole is a better pitcher right now.

Not only are those numbers better, but Cole can start more games. Ohtani can’t start every fifth game due to potentially fatiguing his arm. That being said, Cole obviously isn’t a full-time DH like Ohtani.

Cole has absolutely entered MVP conversation, but when it comes down to true value, even an Ace like Cole is going to struggle to compete with someone who can both pitch like an Ace and rake at the same time.

It’s tough to be more ‘valuable’ than somebody as versatile as Ohtani, but especially when you’re a starting pitcher, and the voters have been telling you that your position is not as ‘valuable’ as position players when looking at the way they’ve been voting.

That’s why this next and final candidate who will be competing with Ohtani for MVP, like Guerrero, is a position player.

BOSTON, MA – MAY 16: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim looks on during the first inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox on May 16, 2021 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

The American League hasn’t been the same without our own LA Angels outfielder Mike Trout.

Doesn’t that speak to how ‘valuable’ of a player Mike Trout is? The LA Angel has won an MVP Award in a year where he’s battled injuries (2019), so as long as he’s in the conversation for best player in the MLB, he’s in the running for the MVP. And Trout is certainly still in the conversation for best player on the planet.

He’s tied with Guerrero for third in the AL with a .333 batting average, he’s leading the league with a .466 on-base percentage, and he’s second in slugging percentage at .624. He has a 1.090 OPS (2nd in the AL), and nobody in the league has a higher BB% than Trout’s unbelievable 18.5% BB%. To be able to walk that often while slugging that high is incredible.

Something else that’s incredible is that despite missing the time that Trout’s missed since his injury, he’s still third in fWAR among position players. His fWAR is 2.4. His lowest fWAR in a year he won the MVP was his 8.3 fWAR in 2014.

It’ll be tough to get back to that considering he’s going to be out another five to seven weeks.

Betting against Trout is usually not a good idea, however, so Angels fans very well may end up having the top two AL MVP candidates on their own team.

Next. Angels struggling, but proving their resiliency

Trout was still in the top three in MVP odds as of May 20th. There’s no counting him out. He’s going to be making noise as soon as he returns to the centerfield grass.

Home / LA Angels News

Shohei Ohtani is the Most Valuable Player in the American League so far.

Gerrit Cole is on a mission to break the trend of pitchers not winning MVPs.

The American League hasn’t been the same without our own LA Angels outfielder Mike Trout.

Schedule