Pete Crow-Armstrong vs Shohei Ohtani: Who Should Win NL MVP?

Edited image of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani from sportskeeda.com

Pete Crow-Armstrong (aka PCA) or Shohei Ohtani for MVP is one of the most debated topics in all of sports right now. So today, I’ll be breaking down this wild chase as one of these two contenders might’ve just pulled away from the other. Let’s jump right into it.

All stats as of Thursday morning (9/2/26).

Why Pete Crow-Armstrong Should Win MVP: PCA leads Ohtani in many major statistics, which I’ll name at the end of his MVP case. Perhaps the most telling sign that he should win MVP is that he leads Ohtani in WAR (8.3 vs 6.6). That 8.3 is the highest in all of MLB this year. On top of his otherworldly hitting, he plays an elite center field. His 25 FRV (Fielding Run Value) is the best in all of baseball, and his 23 OAA (Outs Above Average) is second, just behind Bobby Witt Jr.’s 24. PCA also just had his first 3-home-run game a couple of days ago, and he is chasing a 40/40 season (40 home runs, 40 stolen bases). As promised, here are the stats where Crow-Armstrong is better than Ohtani: WAR, G, PA, H, HR, RBI, SB, SLG, OPS, and OPS+.

Why Shohei Ohtani Should Win MVP: Ohtani does have a slightly better on-base percentage (.382 vs .374). PCA leads Ohtani in WAR, but Ohtani has the second best WAR in baseball. Despite that, he’s currently a worse offensive player than PCA and a worse defensive player (he doesn’t play in the field at all unless you count pitching). However, he does have one huge advantage over PCA. He pitches. He has a 1.79 ERA, an 8-2 record, a 0.94 WHIP and a 10.0 SO/9. There is one major caveat. He’s only pitched 85 innings and hasn’t even appeared in a game to pitch since early July. He’s also currently day-to-day with a knee issue and the Dodgers are considering putting him on the IL. If he returns to pitching and stays in his Cy Young form, he could have a chance to surpass PCA.

The question is whether you value an MVP level offense, top tier defense, and pressuring speed in Pete or an All-Star level offense and 85 Cy Young type innings in Shohei. In my opinion, I’m talking about Crow-Armstrong and it’s not super close right now. I could see Ohtani closing the gap if he returns to pitching in the regular season, has a mega surge offensively, or PCA heavily declines. Until then, I’m leaning towards PCA.

Thanks for reading!