Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani: Why it’s difficult to decide the AL MVP

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Either Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani is going to win the American League MVP Award, and there is no close third.

The award’s fate is in the hands of 30 voters — two representatives from each American League city — who wrote up and sent their ballots Wednesday. The winner will be announced next month.

It's almost impossible to decide who should win.

Judge broke Roger Maris’ American League record for the most home runs in a single season, hitting his 62nd homer Tuesday night. Considering Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s links to PED use when they accomplished the feat, many argue Judge is the true all-time leader.

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American League All-Stars Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, right, and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels line up before the MLB All-Star Game against the National League All-Stars at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles July 19, 2022. (Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

Oh, and he also was in the Triple Crown race until the last game of the season while leading the majors in on-base percentage (.427), slugging percentage (.686), RBI (131), runs scored (133), total bases (391) and OPS+ (211). His 111 walks were tops in the American League, while his .311 batting average ranked second, five points behind Luis Arraez of Minnesota.

But Ohtani is still a unicorn. Not only is he the "Japanese Babe Ruth," he is doing things Ruth never even came close to accomplishing.

This season, Ohtani became the first player to ever qualify for MLB's hitting and pitching leader boards.

That’s unbelievable itself, and he’s elite at both.

His 2.33 ERA was the