Pretty much every season that Shohei Ohtani plays in Major League Baseball, he starts as the overwhelming favorite to win his league's Most Valuable Player award.
asserted
he → play → award
Ohtani in 2024 turned in one of the greatest individual years in baseball history, becoming the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
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Ohtani → turn → season
He won the MVP award.
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He → win → award
In 2025, he followed it up by hitting 55 home runs, stealing 20 bases, scoring 146 runs and, oh yeah, putting up a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings.
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he → follow → innings
He won the MVP award. Unanimously.
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He → win → award
All that's to say that it takes a special season by anyone to overcome Ohtani's unique contributions as top 2-3 hitter and a Cy Young-caliber pitcher on the mound.
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it → say → mound
That type of special season is exactly what Pete Crow-Armstrong turned in for the Chicago Cubs.
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Armstrong → turn → Cubs
PCA, as he's more commonly known, was a top prospect in the Mets organization and had a solid 2024 as a part-time player after coming over to Chicago.
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he → know → Chicago
In 2025, he demonstrated a rare combination of power and speed, with 31 home runs and 35 steals.
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he → demonstrate → runs
But his swing and miss tendencies and low walk rate kept him from superstardom.
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tendencies → keep → superstardom
That all changed in 2026.
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That → change → 2026
Crow-Armstrong started slowly, but as the weather warmed up, became an unstoppable force.
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weather → start → ?
His walk rate skyrocketed from just 4.5% in 2025 to 11.4% in 2026.
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rate → skyrocket → 2026
A jump in bat speed, from 72.7 mph in 2025 to 75.1 mph in 2026 proved vital, as his average exit velocity moved up over a full mph to 90.6 and his hard hit percentage increased to an exceptional 48.6%.
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percentage → prove → %
PCA hit a whopping 45 home runs, stole 41 bases, hit .280 with a .372 on base percentage and .570 slugging percentage.
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PCA → hit → percentage
Offensively, he was 57% better than league average, and contributed his typically outstanding defense.
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he → contribute → defense
Playing one of the most important defensive positions on the field, per FanGraphs, he was worth a whopping 23 runs more than the average center fielder.
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he → play → fielder
Put all that together and you have a 10.6-win season.
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you → put → season
That's rarified air, and it paid off on Thursday night when he was unanimously selected as the winner of the National League MVP Award, officially ending Shohei Ohtani's three-year run.
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he → pay → run
Very well deserved; PCA had an incredible season, and provides an incredible advantage for the Cubs with his elite offense and elite defense at a premium position while still under cheap team control.
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PCA → deserve → control
In the other league, Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, long one of the best hitters in the sport, finally got his league's ultimate recognition.
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Alvarez → designate → recognition
Alvarez, who's been a remarkable 66% better than league average offensively for his career, had a weighted runs created plus of 181 in 2026, where league average is 100.
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average → have → 2026
After returning from an injury-plagued 2025, Alvarez was a force of nature and arguably deserved even better stats, based on his quality of contact.
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Alvarez → return → contact
In an era where strikeouts dominate, Alvarez had 120 K's and 142 walks or intentional walks.
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Alvarez → dominate → K
His 33 intentional walks led all of baseball ... by more than double.
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walks → lead → more
Alvarez hit 42 home runs, adding a .316/.432/.601 batting line, in an era of declining offense.
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Alvarez → hit → offense
That's a 60 run positive contribution to the Astros, without which they would never have reached the postseason.
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they → reach → postseason
Alvarez had a .429 weighted on base average, an overall measure of offensive success rate, but his "expected" wOBA was even higher at .442.
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wOBA → have → .442
His "expected" slugging was a whopping .636, showing he had some extra base hits taken away by either quality defense or bad luck with stadiums.
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hits → expect → stadiums
He too won first place in the voting unanimously.
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He → win → voting
It's rare that there's such consensus around the two MVP winners, but nobody seriously challenged Crow-Armstrong or Alvarez.
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nobody → ' → Armstrong
Alvarez winning despite contributing nothing defensively, and PCA for overcoming the disadvantage that comes from playing in the same league as Shohei Ohtani.
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that → win → Ohtani
Given their track records, it's a safe bet to assume that both will be right back at the top of the list for the 2027 MVP awards ... assuming there's a season.
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both → give → awards
The Aporia
