AL MVP Candidates for MLB 2024 Season

Most baseball fans thought the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award would go either to Los Angeles Angels' Wunderkind Shohei Ohtani or New York Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge for at least the next few seasons. These were the two biggest stars in the AL universe, and barring an injury to one of them, they seemed to rise above everyone else.

But the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled up the Brink's truck to Ohtani's door over the winter and invited him to the National League with an offer he couldn't refuse. Did it now mean that Judge would have a cakewalk to the next several AL MVP awards? Not so fast. A worthy competitor came on the scene, leading a downtrodden team back to a possible playoff berth.

Welcome to the Limelight Bobby Witt Jr.

Photo byThomas ParkonUnsplash

Bobby Witt Jr. is the dynamic young shortstop with the Kansas City Royals. He was selected second overall by the Royals in 2019 MLB Amateur Draft. After two minor league seasons, including 2021 where he was named both the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year and the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year, sandwiched around the pandemic year when the minors were shuttered the entire season, Witt broke camp with the Royals in 2022.

Witt had a strong first season producing a slash line of .254/.294/.428 along 20 home runs, 82 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases. No sophomore slump for him as he hit 30 homers, drove in 96 runs, stole a league leading 49 bases and led all of the major leagues with 11 triples. With this output he became the first Kansas City Royal to record 30 home runs and 30 steals in season.

Dominant Slugger

Aaron Judge of course has been one of the most productive hitters in big league ball for the past eight years. Sticking with the Yankees for good in 2017, he tore up the league in his rookie season. That year, Judge, hit 52 home runs, drove in 114 runs, and had a slash line of .422/.627/.1,049. At the end of the season, he was named American League Rookie of the Year and finished second in the league MVP balloting.

Due to injuries, Judge had a few lean years which only set the stage for his colossal 2022 season. The numbers: MLB leading 62 dingers and 131 RBIs, .311 batting average and a slash line of .425/686/.1.111. He was the landslide MVP of the American League and also the winner of the Hank Aaron Award which is given annually to the best hitter in the AL.

So, Who is the MVP of 2024?

And this season, the two are having an intriguing dual for the league MVP Award. Witt leads the league in runs (109), hits (177), batting average (.351), and is second in doubles with (36), and triples (11). Judge on the other hand is first in home runs (45), RBIs (112), OBP (.462), slugging percentage (.706), and OBS (.1,167). And this year, he became the fastest player to 300 homers for a career on a games played (955) count.

Conventional wisdom would say that if the season ended today, the more famous, power hitting Judge would have the edge. And that may be true in the end. But if young Mr. Witt continues to hit at this clip, and he wills his underdog Royals to a playoff spot, it will be very interesting to see how the AL MVP race turns out.

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Article originally written by Greg Simbeck