Aaron Judge wins AL MVP over Shohei Ohtani

In what was a very intriguing AL MVP race, Aaron Judge has knocked off Shohei Ohtani in the balloting. He received 28 of the 30 first-place votes.

Ohtani was bidding for his second straight MVP victory while Judge wins his first.

Yordan Alvarez was the other finalist and finished third. Mike Trout finished eighth, earning votes as high as fifth.

Ohtani's bid at a second consecutive MVP falls short.

I fully expected Aaron Judge to win the MVP award, and it's the right outcome. His season was unbelievable and one we may never see again.

Judge slashed .311/.425/.686 with an American League record 62 home runs and 131 RBI. He added 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts and played elite defense in both center field and right field.

Judge had a 211 OPS+ and a 10.6 bWAR. He was the best hitter in the league by far and the other parts of his game made him arguably the most well-rounded.

His Yankees won 99 games and the American League East.

Shohei Ohtani's season shouldn't be ignored. He slashed .273/.356/.519 with 34 home runs and 95 RBI at the plate. He also stole 11 bases. This was only offensively.

Ohtani went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA on the mound as well in 28 starts. He struck out an American League-leading 11.9 batters per nine while walking only 2.4/9. He qualified for the ERA title for the first time and finished fourth in that category. He also finished fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting.

Ohtani in my opinion had a better season in 2022 than he did in his MVP year. It's just an unfortunate reality that he had to go up against a player with one of the best offensive seasons ever.

With Ohtani's ability to hit and pitch at such an elite level like he has, expect him to be in the thick of the MVP conversation every year. We just have to hope it's in an Angels uniform.