Coming off a historically great season, Shohei Ohtani is back in the driver's seat to earn National League MVP honours.
The latest: Ohtani authored MLB's first 50-50 season last year, bashing 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. Now in his second year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani looks to fend off other MVP hopefuls, including Fernando Tatis Jr. and Elly De La Cruz.
Let's take a look at the current NL MVP odds.
NL MVP odds
Check out the latest odds to win NL MVP. Click linked odds to add selection to your betslip.
Best NL MVP odds
The favourite: Shohei Ohtani (+125)
These are absurd preseason MVP odds. But Ohtani's talent is absurd, too.
Check out his resume over the past four seasons:
- 3 MVPs (1 runner-up)
- .984 OPS
- 169 OPS+
- 2.84 ERA
- 151 ERA+
- 37.7 bWAR
As a two-way superstar, Ohtani can accrue value at the plate and on the mound in incomparable ways.
That wasn't the case in 2024, though, as Ohtani was unable to pitch while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Did that stop him from running away with the NL MVP in a unanimous fashion? Nope.
Ohtani is already throwing bullpen sessions in the early stages of spring training. That's a great sign for him to return to an MLB mound by May, which is the current projection.
It's difficult to buy in at odds this short for an MVP futures market in the preseason, but Ohtani is in a class all his own when he's operating as a two-way player.
More than anything, this will come down to the unpredictability of injuries. If Ohtani gets through the season with relatively few games missed at the plate while throwing 100-plus innings, it'll be exceptionally difficult for anyone to outdo him.
NL MVP notes
- Tatis (+1,000) missed too much of the 2024 season to garner any MVP attention, but he posted a .578 SLG in September to finish strong. Having converted to the outfield, Tatis uses his cannon arm to mow down runners. He had an NL-high six outfield assists last year despite playing just 96 games in the field. Combine that with a 99th-percentile hard-hit rate (55.8%), per Baseball Savant, and you've got an awfully dangerous player who's been in MVP contention before.
- Few players are as exciting to watch as De La Cruz (+2,000), a 6-foot-5 shortstop who swiped an MLB-high 67 bases last year. There's too much swing-and-miss in his game, but De La Cruz has plenty of pop in his bat to go with elite sprint speed and defensive range. If he can cut down on strikeouts (after piling up an MLB-high 218 last year) while maintaining his 30-homer potential, there's a chance.
