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Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani achieved a historic feat of 50-50 in a single season of Major League Baseball (MLB) but some analysts don't think of the achievement to be as big. Analyst Kevin Barker wasn't impressed with Ohtani's 50-50 achievement and claimed that New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge has had a better season.
What did Kevin Barker had to say?
On the 'Blair and Barker' podcast that is hosted by Jeff Blair and Barker, in the last couple of podcasts they have been debating over who should get the National League MVP.
On 20th September, Friday's episode, Barker didn't agree with the fact that Shohei Ohtani should get the National League MVP award even after scripting history. Whereas, Barker feels that the award should be given to New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, who is currently on the sidelines due to an injury.
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During Friday's episode, Barker said, "The bases have never been bigger, dude's holding runners on, never been worse. Will he do it next year? No, because he's having to play a different position, like he's actually having to do something."
"Look, yeah, he's having a tremendous year, and he will win the MVP by far, but if Lindor would have stayed healthy with the schedule that the Mets had and the way they've been playing, he would have got my vote," Barker added.
Barker then elaborated on why he feels that Ohtani's 50-50 record doesn't even come close to the likes of Aaron Judge. He feels that Judge had provided more value to his squad because of his defensive powers and this is something Ohtani hasn't been able to provide to the Dodgers due to his DH role.
"I've talked to a lot of people who have tried to play every day at the highest level. 'Who's had a better season, Ohtani or Judge?'. It's not even close, I mean, Judge's OPS is a 150 points higher, and he plays centre, and he does it for the Yankees," Barked concluded.
Shohei Ohtani could overtake Aaron Judge in home run lead
Aaron Judge was at one point playing in a league of his own and by 25th August, he had registered 51 home runs to his name. He was looking comfortable of beating his record of 62 home runs but since his downfall, he has only managed to hit only two home runs.
On the other hand, Ohtani is a class apart as he has hit 11 home runs since then. His latest was against the Colorado Rockies series opener. Ohtani (52) is one home run away from tying with Judge at the top spot.
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