In third baseman Jose Ramirez, the Cleveland Guardians have a perennial MVP candidate.
His worst season in the last seven years came in 2019, and he still managed to finish with a healthy .806 OPS.
This year, he is once again performing at a high level.
Despite his rock-solid .933 OPS, he is starting to fall behind in the AL MVP race.
“Aaron Judge (-110) is now favored to win the AL MVP: Shohei Ohtani +125; Yordan Alvarez +1100; Rafael Devers +2000; Mike Trout +3300; Jose Ramirez +4000; Vladimir Guerrero Jr.+8000,” bet365 US tweeted.
Aaron Judge (-110) is now favored to win the AL MVP 🏆
Shohei Ohtani +125
Yordan Alvarez +1100
Rafael Devers +2000
Mike Trout +3300
Jose Ramirez +4000
Vladimir Guerrero Jr +8000Latest odds on site 📲
— bet365 US (@bet365_us) July 25, 2022
Both Judge and Alvarez have an OPS over 1.000, so it would be hard for Ramirez to keep up the pace unless he starts increasing that number.
The Guardians star is slashing .287/.362/.570 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI.
He has also stolen 13 bases for good measure.
Ramirez Is Having Another Fantastic Season, But It May Not Be Enough
He is having another terrific season, but he is already behind last year’s pace in homers (he hit 36).
Judge already has 37 blasts and comfortably leads the league, while Ohtani still thrives at both hitting and pitching.
As long as those two and Alvarez keep performing at their current paces, it will be hard for “Mr. Lapara” to climb back into the race.
However, if history has taught us anything, it’s never ruling out Ramirez.
He is capable of performing at a torrid pace for a month, perhaps even more, as he has done several times in the past.
He needs a big second half to climb back into the race.
It would be really unfair for him not to win any MVP awards when all is said and done: he clearly deserved the award in 2020 and had a strong case in 2018.
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