Cal Raleigh Passes Aaron Judge As AL MVP Favorite
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has taken over as the American League MVP preferred with his closest competitor, Aaron Judge, heading to the hurt list.
Raleigh hit home runs in consecutive games over the weekend to extend his significant league lead to 41. It is currently seven more than his career high, and Raleigh has actually tied Todd Hundley (1996) for the most home runs in a season by a switch-hitting catcher.
Judge has actually led the MVP race most of the season, but the New York Yankees slugger will miss out on an undetermined amount of time due to a flexor strain. The two-time AL MVP currently paces the majors in batting average (.342 ), on-base percentage (.449) and punching percentage (.711 ).
However, Raleigh has actually now passed Judge for the AL RBI lead, 86 to 85, and is just one behind Arizona's Eugenio Suarez for the major league lead.
Raleigh is now the -130 AL MVP favorite at DraftKings and is -135 at BetMGM. Judge has the 2nd shortest chances at +100 of +105, respectively. It's still a two-player race, with the third-shortest odds belonging to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal at +4000 at both books.
BetMGM reported that Raleigh is now the book's biggest liability in the AL MVP market, having actually been backed by the most overall money bet at 28.6 percent. Kansas Bobby Witt Jr. leads with the most total bets placed at 19.6 percent however is currently a +8000 longshot.
The gap in between Raleigh and Judge could continue to widen depending upon the length of time the Yankees star is sidelined.
Judge experienced discomfort, recoiling on a toss during New York's three-game series in Toronto recently. He was in more discomfort Friday and the Yankees sent him for tests that revealed only the stress and no damage to the ulnar collateral ligament.
"All in all, we got excellent news," manager Aaron Boone said. "I believe everybody feared the worst."
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani stays the excessive NL favorite at -2000 at both books.