Pete Crow-Armstrong knows what he’s up against. Winning National League MVP right now means finding a way past Shohei Ohtani, and that’s basically a fool’s errand for any position player. But the Cubs outfielder has a theory about how to pull it off.
“I was telling a few of the guys earlier, ‘Man, I would love to dethrone him,’ but I don’t know how you do it unless I go to a pitching lab in the off-season,” Crow-Armstrong told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “I’ll go be a closer or something and see how that helps my odds.”
He was smiling when he said it, probably. But the joke lands because it’s true. Ohtani is currently recovering from a knee injury and wasn’t at the All-Star Game, but he’s still the best player in baseball and the heavy favorite for his fourth straight MVP and fifth overall. He just signed a long-term deal with the Dodgers, so this isn’t going anywhere for a while.
The reality of MVP math in the NL
A position player could theoretically put up a 70-homer season or pull off a 40-40 year and still finish second. That’s where things stand right now. Ohtani hits like an elite slugger and pitches like an ace, and no single-dimensional player can match that value, no matter how loud the numbers look. It’s not fair, but it’s also not changing.
Crow-Armstrong made the All-Star team this season, and he’s having a solid year at the plate and in center field. But solid doesn’t win MVPs when a two-way superstar exists. He’d need to add another skill entirely, which is where the whole closer idea comes in.
Is he serious? Probably not. But the fact that the conversation has reached this point — a talented young player joking about learning to pitch just to have a shot at an award — says everything about Ohtani’s dominance. The Cubs outfielder has speed, defense, and a developing bat. That’s a great player. It’s just not an MVP candidate in this era.
Ohtani is under contract in Los Angeles through at least 2033. That means the NL MVP race will run through him every single year unless someone pulls off something historic or, I guess, learns to throw a 98 mph fastball in the offseason.
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