“Shohei Ohtani MVP fatigue” - MLB insider breaks down X-factor that sets apart Dodgers two-way star from Pete Crow-Armstrong

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge used to compete for the MVP title when they were in the American League. After Ohtani signed with the LA Dodgers last season, it has become easy for voters to select the MVP because both are in a league of their own. That's why both were selected unanimously last year.

However, voters can also become fatigued from voting for the same person repeatedly. In that scenario, they try to find someone to take a chance on.

MLB insider and The Athletic's Jayson Stark did the same and the closest person he thinks could compete with Ohtani for the NL MVP honor in 2025 was Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong.

"It’s called Shohei Ohtani MVP Fatigue," Stark wrote in his column for The Athletic. "So I, too, went into this process practically looking for reasons to argue that, say, Pete Crow-Armstrong was the real NL MVP in 2025. But sorry. There just aren’t enough of them."

At the end of his analysis, Stark was convinced that there were not enough reasons to vote for Crow-Armstrong. He then pointed out the factors that make Ohtani a clear-cut frontrunner ahead of PCA for the honor.

"If we put defense aside, Ohtani leads Crow-Armstrong in slugging by more than 70 points, in OPS by over 150 points and in OBP by 80 points," Stark wrote. "Ohtani has also reached base nearly 50 more times, in part because PCA practically refuses to walk (four in his last 130 trips). So do defense and base running make up all of that ground? It might for the WAR calculators, but not quite for me."

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Shohei Ohtani leads the list of Jayson Stark's top five NL MVP contenders

Shohei Ohtani didn't have to set foot on the mound last season and still came away as the unanimous NL MVP. He's currently having another big season, while also throwing gas off the mound, making it that much difficult for other NL MVP contenders.

Ohtani is hitting .279 along with 31 home runs and 12 stolen bases after 92 games. On the mound, he has started four games and pitched six innings for an ERA of 1.50, along with six strikeouts.

Jayson Stark released his MVP front-runner list in his column.

"Ohtani, Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Zack Wheeler, James Wood."

Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is hitting .269 along with 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases, has a lot of catching to do if he wants to give voters enough reason to favor him over the three-time NL MVP.

Edited by Dipayan Moitra