Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge MVP locks? American League's best bet? Joey Votto, HOFer?
The Dodgers are getting healthy, but are they out of the woods in the National League West? The American League Central is even tighter, and could also feature three playoff teams. But are any of them a stronger title contender than the Yankees, Orioles or Astros?
Also, have Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani all but clinched the respective MVP awards?
FOX Sports MLB experts Deesha Thosar and Rowan Kavner tackle these topics and more in this week's roundtable.
1. How confident are you in the Dodgers winning the NL West?
Kavner: I expect it to happen, although if their pitching can't get healthy I wouldn't be shocked if it doesn't. As long as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow come back relatively soon, this Dodgers lineup should be formidable enough to stay ahead now that it's getting whole again. Ultimately, I think getting pushed might not be the worst thing for a Dodgers team that wasn't the past two years — and then got bounced expeditiously in October.
Thosar: The Dodgers' strong August (13-6), including sweeps against the Pirates and Mariners, has allowed them to create a little distance in the NL West, but it's not enough separation that they can breathe easy, either. I'm still pretty confident they'll win the division, since after doing so 10 times in the past 11 years, it has an air of inevitability about it. But I'd feel more convinced about their playoff stamina if the Dodgers finish the month strong and can go on a run here — even a string of series wins or a long winning streak like the seven-game stretch they had to start May. After this weekend's series against a depleted Rays team, Los Angeles will be tested against the Orioles, Diamondbacks and Guardians in playoff-adjacent matchups. If the Dodgers want