Shohei Ohtani has separated himself in the National League MVP race after resuming two-way duties, leaving other strong NL seasons trailing. Aaron Judge still leads the majors with a .323/.439/.667 line (193 wRC+), but his recent two-month stretch has produced just .240/.385/.540 with 12 homers and a 26% strikeout rate in 192 plate appearances. A flexor strain sent Judge to the injured list and he has a .210/.380/.403 line since returning, currently limited to DH duties with no outfield timetable. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has mounted a serious AL MVP challenge.
Since then, Ohtani has broken away from the pack in the NL as he's more fully resumed two-way duties. While other players like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Pete Crow-Armstrong have put together excellent seasons of their own in the NL, it's hard to see that race as anything other than Ohtani's to lose headed into the final month of the season.
A big part of that is the fact that Judge hasn't looked like his usual superhuman self lately. The 33-year-old is still slashing an absurd .323/.439/.667 (193 wRC+), a figure that leads the majors by a substantial margin. However, Judge's numbers have come down quite a bit in the past two months. Since the day our last AL MVP poll was published, Judge has hit "just" .240/.385/.540 with 12 homers and a 26% strikeout rate in 192 trips to the plate.
That lack of volume is thanks to a flexor strain in Judge's elbow that sent him to the injured list for a minimum stint a few weeks ago, and his .210/.380/.403 slash line since returning from the injured list only underscores that he's not playing at full strength. He's also been relegated to a DH-only role for the month of August and has no timetable for his return to the outfield, though he's already begun making throws to the infield in pregame workouts.
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