So far, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have both had seasons for the ages.
Through the first half of his inaugural campaign with the Dodgers, Ohtani has been worth every penny of his 10-year, $700 million contract. As of July 17, he is fourth in the league in batting average (.316), second in the league in home runs (29) and sixth in the league in RBIs (69).
At the start of the season, Ohtani opened up at +950 to win NL MVP — it probably had something to do with the fact that he’s not pitching this season — but he’s since surged up the oddsboard because of his dominance at the plate.
Now, Ohtani is a commanding -290 favorite to win the award.
Remarkably, Judge might even be having a better season than Sho Time.
As of July 17, the Yankees slugger leads the league in home runs (34) and RBIs (85), and is tied for seventh in the league in average (.306). In the month of June, he hit .409 with 36 hits, 11 homers and 37 RBIs.
He is on pace for 57 home runs, which would be his third season with more than 50 homers, a feat only achieved by Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Alex Rodriguez.
He is currently the -310 favorite to win AL MVP.
In fact, Ohtani and Judge’s performances have been so impressive that DraftKings Sportsbook has posted MVP odds for “Ohtani vs. the field” and “Judge vs. the field.”
Let’s take a look at the odds as of July 18.
Aaron Judge vs. Any Other Player:
Aaron Judge: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Any other player: +240 (bet $10 to win $34 total)
Shohei Ohtani vs. Any Other Player:
Shohei Ohtani: -290 (bet $10 to win $13.45 total)
Any other player: +235 (bet $10 to win $33.50 total)
FanDuel Sportsbook also has an interesting prop bet to take advantage of these historic seasons by offering odds for each of them to win the Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown — when a batter leads his league in average, homers and RBIs — has only been accomplished 17 times in MLB history. The last, and only, time both leagues had a Triple Crown winner was in 1933.
Let’s take a look at the odds as of July 18.
Will Aaron Judge win the 2024 AL Triple Crown?
Yes: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
No: -3000 (bet $10 to win $10.33 total)
Will Shohei Ohtani win the 2024 NL Triple Crown?
Yes: +1060 (bet $10 to win $116 total)
No: -3500 (bet $10 to win $10.29 total)
Ohtani is currently tops in homers in the NL, second in batting average, and third in RBIs.
Meanwhile, as mentioned previously, Judge currently leads all baseball in home runs and RBIs. He is tied for fourth in the AL for batting average.
Can these two continue to rearrange the record books?
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