CC Sabathia: Angels' Shohei Ohtani should be American League MVP over Yankees' Aaron Judge
Tue, Sep 13, 2022
MLB News (AP)
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has garnered a ton of attention as he chases Roger Maris' franchise and American League record of 61 home runs in a single season. Despite what Judge has accomplished, though, CC Sabathia believes that someone else deserve the American League MVP award.
The former Yankees ace was asked about the current Yankees slugger and said Los Angeles Angels dual-threat Shohei Ohtani should be crowned the AL MVP.
"He's the best player to ever play baseball," Sabathia said regarding Ohtani. "He's the MVP every year that he's healthy. He continues to get better as a pitcher. You have to give him the MVP."
Entering Tuesday, Ohtani has a 12-8 record to go along with a 2.55 ERA and 188 strikeouts on the season. Ohtani's 188 strikeouts are ranked eighth in the majors while his ERA is the 10th-lowest in all of baseball. Meanwhile, Ohtani owns a .267 batting average while hitting 34 home runs and 88 RBIs at the plate this season. The Angels slugger is tied for fifth in baseball in the home run department.
"He's having a better year than last year. I understand everything that Judge is doing," Sabathia added. "I think it's going to be incredible to watch him chase down 61 home runs in a Yankees uniform. If it wasn't for him, they probably wouldn't be in the playoff picture. This guy (Ohtani) is literally the best player that we've ever seen."
Judge is currently hitting .307 and has an MLB-best 55 home runs and 121 RBIs. With 21 games remaining on the regular season schedule, it's a very high probability that the Yankees slugger will top Maris' record of 61 home runs.
But even with how impressive Judge's season has been, Sabathia is placing more stock in Ohtani's ability to be elite from both a hitting and pitching standpoint.
