The AL MVP Award goes to Aaron Judge

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Aaron Judge made history in the 2022 season and the MLB fraternity amply rewarded him with the AL MVP award announced on Thursday evening. He got more votes than any of his nearest contenders. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America overwhelmingly selected Aaron Judge as the 2022 AL MVP. The Yankees’ power hitter had a total of 410 points with 28 first-place and two second-place votes. Ohtani had only 280 points. He got just two first-place and 28 second-place votes. Alvarez came third with 22 third-place and eight fourth-place votes giving only 232 points.

How did Aaron Judge win the 2022 AL MVP award?

For the most part of the year, the 2022 AL MVP award contest was a two-man race between the Yankees’ power-hitter Aaron Judge and the Angels’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. Judge had a season in 2022 that was different from anything we’d seen in a long time. He got a batting average of.311, an on-base percentage of.425, and a slugging percentage of.686. He also made 131 RBIs, 391 total bases, and 62 home runs, breaking the six-decade-old record of 61 home runs set by Roger Maris (also of the Yankees) in 1961. In the last 65 years, only Barry Bonds had a higher wRC+ in a single season than Judge’s 207.

Since August, he was one of the top choices for the AL MVP award because he was trying to break a record in a sport that has revered records since the 1800s. When you think about the fact that he’s not just hitting for power, but also for average and getting on base, his accomplishments look even better. Judge’s batting average was tied for second in the AL this season, and his on-base plus slugging (OPS) was better than everyone else. On top of that, he was almost the AL leader in batting average, RBI, and home runs, so he had a chance to win the triple crown and the AL MVP award.

Judge finished first in the AL in home runs and RBI while his batting average (.311) was just .005 points behind the leader (.316) Luis Arraez of the Twins. He was the first player since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 to seriously come close to win the AL triple crown.

Ohtani was the closest competitor

Ohtani also had a very good season but in a different way that put him in contention for the AL MVP award. Ohtani had a great year at the plate. He hit .273,.356, and.519, had 95 RBI, and hit 34 home runs. He had also been a beast when he was on the mound. But these numbers don’t seem as important as Judge’s. The fact that Ohtani could both hit and pitch made things even more complicated. He had an even better year pitching than he did hitting. Ohtani was 15–9 and had a 2.33 earned run average (ERA). The 2021 MVP pitched 166 innings and struck out 219 batters (SO).

Judge is a better hitter, but he is only an outfielder and isn’t even a very good one. Ohtani, on the other hand, is both one of the best batters and one of the best pitchers in the league, which made him an AL MVP award material. You have to go back to Babe Ruth to find a player who was so good at both pitching and hitting. Even Ruth didn’t do both as Ohtani has been doing for the last two years. The Angels’ star was not having as good of a year at the plate in the 2022 season as he did last year (.257/.372/.592 with 46 home runs), but he is pitching much better than he did last year (9-2, 3.18 ERA, 130.1 IP, 156 SO).

Alvarez enters the AL MVP race

The two-way race became three on November 7, when the Baseball Writers’ Association of America picked up Houston’s hitting maestro Yordan Alvarez as the third AL MVP award contender. While fans and analysts remained focused on Judge and Ohtani – both of whom missed the World Series, Alvarez helped the Astros win the title.

Alvarez was once again one of the best hitters in the American League. The 2021 ALCS MVP hit.306 with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs to press his case for the AL MVP award. His batting average was.306, .406, and.613. Only he and Aaron Judge have an OPS of more than 1.000. Alvarez’s 1.019 OPS and 187 OPS+ (the average for the league is 100) were both second in the MLB, behind only Judge’s 1.019 OPS and 187 OPS+. During the playoffs, he also hit some memorable home runs for the team that won the World Series. In the 13 playoff games he played for the 2022 World Series champion Astros, he hit three home runs. Two of them were game-winning home runs in the ALDS, and one was the game-winning home run in the World Series. In Game 6, he hit a 450-foot home run to center field, which helped the team score three runs in a 4-1 win that sealed the championship. His achievements were no less forceful when considering contenders for the AL MVP award.

Aaron Judge becomes the AL MVP

Aaron Judge earlier won the AL Hank Aaron Award by beating both Ohtani and Alvarez, and this made his push for the AL MVP award brighter. He also beat Ohtani for the Players’ Choice Award for Player of the Year and the award for Most Outstanding Player in the American League. Also, Baseball Digest and eBay both picked Aaron Judge as the best major league player of the year. Aaron Judge got 18 first-place votes from a group of 22 baseball writers and broadcasters, including former players, managers, and executives. Ohtani only got four first-place votes. Three times in 2022, Judge was named AL Player of the Month. Alvarez won once, but Ohtani didn’t win a single one in 2022. This is a big difference from 2021 when the LA star has an-all winning award season. This put Judge ahead of two others in the race for the AL MVP award.

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