4 Best Bets For AL MVP Right Now

Now that we are officially in the second half of the season, now is a great time to start looking at the players that could potentially win the AL MVP award by the end of the season. There are a couple of candidates that are positioning themselves better than the rest, such as the reigning winner of the award. Here are four good players to place a bet on down the stretch who can win the AL MVP.

Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels (-110)

Shohei Ohtani seems to be aiming to repeat after winning the AL MVP award last season with the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani has crushed 21 home runs on the season along with 11 stolen bases on 358 appearances at the plate. Though it isn’t just his strong play at the plate which is putting him this high on the list. He is also playing excellent on the mound. He’s got the 17^th best ERA in the league at 2.81 and the sixth highest number of strikeouts at 145. It’s rare for a player to thrive on each end like Ohtani has been throughout these past two years.

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (+140)

Aaron Judge has been one of the best batters in the league this season, especially when it comes to hitting homers. Judge has the 29^th best batting average in the league right now at .293. He also has the most amount of home runs by a good margin at 39, with the second highest total of RBIs at 83. Judge has been so stellar this season that he’s genuinely giving Ohtani a run for his money. Combine this close race with the Yankees having one of the best records in baseball while the Angels are one of the worst teams in the league and he’s got an incredible shot. 

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros (+1400)

Yordan Alvarez is doing a wonderful job at sticking around this conversation, though he is admittedly a little far behind both Judge and Ohtani. Alvarez isn’t out yet though, as his batting numbers are strong. He’s got the 12^th best batting average at the moment with a .309, the third most home runs at 29 and the seventh highest total of RBIs at 67. Not to mention that he is first in the league when it comes to OPS at 1.088.

Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox (+1600)

Similar to Alvarez, Rafael Devers has a lot of work left to do in order to catch up to the top dogs in this race. Devers would need an excellent second half of the year to do just that. At the moment, he’s got the third best batting average in the league at .324. Plus, he’s recorded the 14^th most home runs at 22 and the 25^th most RBIs at 55. His numbers are a tad below the other players on this list in those ladder statistics but they are close enough for him to shorten the gap down the stretch of the year.