We’re deep into May of the MLB season, and Mookie Betts and Juan Soto remain the favorites to win MVP for each league — but both are facing intense competition from their own dugouts.
In the American League, Juan Soto sits at the top of oddsboard at +270.
He is closely trailed by fellow Yankee Aaron Judge.
Based on his standards, Judge got off to a slow start this year and saw his odds to win the AL MVP balloon all the way out to +1800 as he struggled at the plate.
But any early troubles have evaporated in a New York minute, as Judge has turned it around by hitting .386 and slugging .912 in May (as of May 22).
He’s now at +360 on the oddsboard.
Let’s check out the most recent odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.
National League MVP Odds: *
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers: +170 (bet $10 to win $27 total)
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)
Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
American League MVP Odds: *
Juan Soto, New York Yankees: +270 (bet $10 to win $37 total)
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: +360 (bet $10 to win $46 total)
Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
odds as of 5/23/24
FOX Sports MLB analyst Ben Verlander gushed over Judge’s recent uptick in play in his Team of the Week column.
“All rise, because the 2022 AL MVP is officially back,” Verlander wrote. “Judge started to heat up over the past couple weeks and then went white-hot this past week like only he can do. This is Judge at his best, and when he is at his best, he might be the best hitter in the entire game.”
Not surprisingly, the Yankees have the best record in the American league due to the play of their two MVP candidates.
RELATED: The Yankees are Back
Betts’ odds of winning the National League MVP sit at +170, barely ahead of his teammate, Shohei Ohtani, who is enjoying a stellar debut season with the Dodgers.
As of May 23, Ohtani is tied for fifth on the MLB home run leaderboard with 13, leads MLB in batting average at .354, and has the most hits across MLB with 70.
He has taken the year off from pitching to recover from an injured elbow ligament.
Betts is sixth in batting average (.330) and third in hits (66) as of Thursday.
In mid-April, Ohtani was at +1400, fifth on the oddsboard behind Betts, Acuna, Fernando Tatis Jr. and another Dodgers teammate, Freddie Freeman.
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