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The story
On August 25, MLB’s official website released its predictions for this season’s NL MVP, and topping the list wasn’t Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (32), who is chasing his fourth consecutive and fifth career MVP award, but Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA, 24).
On 5ch, discussion centered on a stats debate over whether WAR or OPS should carry more weight, along with hopes that Ohtani could still stage a comeback in the final month of the season.
Sports Hochi
August 26, 2026, 4:55 AM
In this season’s MVP predictions released on the 25th (late that same night Japan time) by MLB’s official website, it’s not Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (32), aiming for his fourth straight and fifth career MVP award, but Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA, 24) who currently leads the NL race.
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
What people said
MLB really doesn't have many famous stars anymore, huh
He had a huge slump last year too
Could go either way
Ohtani losing out to some nobody lol
(∩´∀｀)∩ hooray! (celebratory ASCII emoticon)
His swing's got way more snap to it
If there's injury risk, ban sliding and diving catches
PCA takes it even if Ohtani hits 40-40
Turns out he's not that popular after all ＼(^o^)／
Is MLB's level really low enough that some random newcomer can become MVP?
Thought that, looked him up, and turns out he's put up great numbers every year lmao
I'm way too much of a casual fan lmaooo
(though the fact that he's still in the conversation among Japanese players says he's a monster regardless)
MVP is just an incidental award for how the whole year goes. Winning the pennant is what actually matters.
If he's not pitching, Ohtani as just a DH doesn't stand a chance
Catching up to and surpassing Bonds' 7 MVPs is Ohtani's noble mission
Calling the OPS leader "pretty good" lol
Who do you think you are lol
When it comes to grounding out and going hitless lately,
Murakami's even worse than Ohtani
So dissing Ohtani means dissing Murakami even harder — keep that in mind
Can't be helped
WAR isn't an official MLB stat
It's just a reference metric, and plenty of people criticize it
Too much weight's been put on it until now
That take is shallow
Writers vote on impressions, not stats — keep that in mind
Though yeah, Ohtani's not getting MVP this year, that much is certain
Thought he was way short of it this season
The OPS leader not being in contention? No way lol
Ohtani running cold on top of cold
Genuinely excited to see the last month play out
The real 'running hot' is Ohtani's ERA, as always
Background and Key Points
The MVP award itself isn’t decided by MLB.com’s own website — the poll referenced here is an internal “expert predictions” feature published in late August, distinct from the real vote, which is cast after the regular season by two BBWAA writers in each NL city on a ranked ballot. Ohtani’s history looms over the discussion: back-to-back AL MVPs in 2021 and 2023, then a unanimous NL MVP in 2024 after a two-way peak that combined elite hitting with dominant pitching WAR. This year he’s largely a DH while recovering from surgery, which several posters implicitly flag as the reason his overall value case is thinner than in past seasons, even with strong OPS numbers.
The thread’s real fault line is WAR versus OPS as the right lens for MVP. One camp treats WAR — which folds in PCA’s defense and baserunning on top of a breakout bat — as the closer proxy for what writers actually reward, since PCA plays center field and adds value beyond hitting. The other camp insists that voters go by feel and traditional offensive production, where Ohtani’s OPS lead should matter more, and that a strong September could still flip things.
What the thread skips is that these midseason “predictions” have shifted before and carry no weight on the actual ballot; WAR itself isn’t an MLB-sanctioned metric but a sabermetric composite that different sites calculate differently, so “leading in WAR” isn’t as fixed a fact as posters treat it. Readers should treat this as an editorial snapshot, not a forecast of the real BBWAA outcome.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[U.S.] Even in the official site’s expert poll, PCA is favored over Shohei Ohtani for MVP.”
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