We exist in a time when many pieces of information are deemed newsworthy or noteworthy. The volume and depth of information available just clicks away causes most of it to become white noise. Despite these modern conflicts, the dominance and accomplishments of Shohei Ohtani still find a way to stand out.
Ohtani began the 2024 season in a new uniform and a different role. The reigning AL MVP was in Dodger blue and would not throw a pitch or play the field due to his recovery from a second Tommy John surgery. He entered a National League utterly dominated by Ronald Acuña Jr. the previous year and now shared a clubhouse with two fellow MVP favorites in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
What did Ohtani do in response? Went absolutely bananas at the dish for 159 games, launching 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases while leading baseball in total bases and runs scored. Ohtani captured his third MVP award in four seasons, becoming only the second player since Barry Bonds to do so, and joined Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVPs in both leagues.
Entering 2025, Ohtani is the firm favorite to capture a third straight and fourth overall MVP award. Only Bonds has won an MVP three years in a row and set the bar even higher with four consecutive awards from 2001-04. At least Ohtani can still chase someone.
Those chasing Ohtani are led by Juan Soto, who followed Ohtani’s footsteps by jumping ship to the National League for a career-changing sum of money and dreams of winning a championship. Soto joins forces with last year’s MVP runner-up, Francisco Lindor, to form a tandem that could challenge Ohtani for hardware this season.
Ohtani’s teammates in LA, Betts and Freeman, also factor into the top-ten on MVP odds boards during Spring Training. Betts played in his fewest games during a non-COVID season since his rookie year in 2014 thanks to a fractured hand, and Freeman appeared in fewer than 150 games for the first time since 2017. Both are expected to be key contributors in 2025, even as Freeman will turn 36 in September.
Players like Fernando Tatis Jr., Bryce Harper, and Acuña are all suiting up for National League contenders and should be viewed as threats. For Tatis and Acuña, it’s a matter of whether they can return to their top form after serious leg injuries in 2024.
Tatis missed 60 games and reportedly played on a broken leg, while Acuña didn’t even play 50 games before suffering the second torn ACL of his career. Harper has dealt with several lengthy injury stints since debuting as a teenager in 2012 and managed to avoid that last season to hit 30 home runs and rip 42 doubles for the NL East champs.
Some rapid-fire highlights for the rest of the NL MVP race in 2025:
● Kyle Tucker (CHC): Traded from Houston after an injury-riddled 2024 season. Posted 4.67 WAR and a .993 OPS in 78 games with a career-best 6.8% HR rate.
● Elly De La Cruz: The explosive, volatile athlete led baseball in stolen bases (67) and strikeouts (218) while belting 25 homers and ten triples. It will be even scarier if he can figure out how to improve against left-handed pitching.
● Corbin Carroll: After a sluggish start, he slugged 17 home runs, stole 17 bases, hit eight triples, and has a .919 OPS in 64 games after the All-Star break. Carroll still led baseball in triples and finished second in the NL to Ohtani in runs scored with 121.
Corbin Carroll +2200
William Contreras +5500
Ohtani feels inevitable but locking up a future at +200 or shorter doesn’t exactly get the juices flowing. We covered Carroll in our highlights section above and are very high on him this season after he seemingly unlocked his swing in the second half of 2024.
Farther down the board, we love Milwaukee catcher William Contreras. He’s far and away the best-hitting catcher in the National League and was just shy of 1.0 dWAR defensively in 2024.
Contreras touched a 5% home run rate in 2022 with Atlanta, and if he can produce that across 150+ games this season, we think he can propel both the Brewers and himself to new heights.