Angels' Ohtani sets MVP pace for Jays slugger Guerrero Jr.
American League's two brightest stars go head to head this week in Anaheim
Sports fans being a predictable lot, the “MVP, MVP” chants are to be expected when Shohei Ohtani comes to the plate (or strikes someone out) at Angel Stadium over the next three days.
Will it be done with more volume because the Blue Jays are in town, with Ohtani's main competition for the American League version of the award in the visitors' dugout? Pretty good chance.
By any reasonable measure, Toronto's Vlad Guerrero Jr. has some work to do to catch the Angels' star hitter and starting pitcher. But what better setting to make some ground than in a head-to-head matchup over four games in Southern California, beginning with Tuesday's doubleheader?
Can Guerrero ease his way out of a soft stretch at the plate during the Jays' 9-2 homestand at the Rogers Centre? It wouldn't be the first time that a Toronto star did just that during a showdown in Anaheim with MVP status among the stakes.
For the previously most memorable one, we take you back six years when a surging Jays team settled into Orange County for a three-game series with the Angels. At the time, Anaheim superstar Mike Trout seemed to have the clear MVP edge on Toronto's Josh Donaldson, who like the rest of his team, was heating up.
By the end of the three-game set, Donaldson had flipped public opinion after a dominating run at the plate that was etched in voter's minds at season's end.
In the first game — a 9-2 blowout Jays win — the Bringer of Rain went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in while Trout went 0-for-3.
And it got better for Donaldson. In the second contest — this time a 15-3 blowout — the Jays third baseman went 4-for-5 and drove in six runs while Trout again was 0-for-3. Donaldson finished off the series going 2-for-5 (while Trout was 3-for-4) in the finale and essentially set himself up to win the season-ending award.
“He's the best in the league so far ... by far the MVP,” Donaldson's teammate, Jose Bautista, said at the time. “If anybody doesn't think that, they're a fool.”
During that series, Donaldson topped the 100-RBI plateau in Game 122. Heading into Tuesday's doubleheader at Angel Stadium, Guerrero had 87 in 110 Jays contests and is arguably having a more impressive season than Donaldson did.
The problem is, Ohtani has captured all of baseball with his work at the plate and on the mound.
In fairness, it will take more than one dominant three-game stretch for Guerrero to overtake the Japanese superstar and become just the third Blue Jays player to win the AL MVP honour (George Bell in 1987 was the first). Oddsmakers certainly are booking it that way, with most betting lines listing the Japanese superstar as a minus-800 favourite with Guerrero the distant plus-450 second choice.
That doesn't take away from the appeal of the matchup, however. The Guerrero-versusOhtani showdown has plenty of layers to it and some growing history. At last month's all-star game, what began as the Shohei Show turned into another Vlad moment, thanks in part to a towering 462-foot home run that helped land him game MVP honours.
Guerrero admitted to being fascinated with his fellow superstar, seeking out Ohtani before the home run derby, curious about how a dude can be both a sensational hitter and killer starting pitcher.
The 22-year-old also loves the big moments, and a visit to Anaheim qualifies as such, returning to one of the stadiums where his hall of fame father was a star to face one of his rivals in baseball's stratosphere.
As matchups go, Thursday's conclusion of the four-game series will be one of the most anticipated games of the season, with Ohtani taking his 6-1 record (and 2.93 ERA) to the mound to face Guerrero and his heavy-hitting teammates.
The Jays, who will counter with Jose Berrios making his third start with his new team, have an opportunity to help Guerrero's cause by getting to Ohtani, admittedly a task much easier said than done.
Offensively, there's not much to separate Guerrero and Ohtani at this point, with the Angel holding a 37-35 lead in homers and the Jay with an 87-82 upper hand in RBIs.
Defensively, however, MVP voters aren't going to pay near as much attention to Guerrero's terrific transition at first base when compared to the sensation of Ohtani as an elite starter.
“It's going to be fun watching him and Ohtani, two MVP candidates, play against each other,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said prior to Tuesday's play.
Unlike the Donaldson-Trout showdown of six years ago, the consensus is that Guerrero has much more to do to regain the upper hand in the AL MVP race. There's a good chance he'll end the season as a better hitter, but will it be enough?
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