Cal Raleigh Passes Aaron Judge As AL MVP Favorite

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has taken control of as the American League MVP favorite with his closest competitor, Aaron Judge, heading to the hurt list.


Raleigh struck home runs in consecutive video games over the weekend to extend his big league lead to 41. It is already seven more than his career high, and Raleigh has actually tied Todd Hundley (1996) for the most crowning achievements 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 quantity of time due to a flexor stress. The two-time AL MVP presently paces the majors in batting average (.342 ), on-base portion (.449) and punching percentage (.711 ).


However, Raleigh has now passed Judge for the AL RBI lead, 86 to 85, and is just one behind Arizona's Eugenio Suarez for the big league lead.


Raleigh is now the -130 AL MVP favorite at and is -135 at BetMGM. Judge has the 2nd fastest chances at +100 of +105, respectively. It's still a two-player race, with the third-shortest chances coming from Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal at +4000 at both books.


BetMGM reported that Raleigh is now the book's most significant liability in the AL MVP market, having been backed by the most total money bet at 28.6 percent. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. leads with the most overall bets placed at 19.6 percent but is presently a +8000 longshot.


The space in between Raleigh and Judge could continue to widen depending upon the length of time the Yankees star is sidelined.


Judge experienced pain, recoiling on a throw during New york city's three-game series in Toronto last week. He remained in more pain Friday and the Yankees sent him for tests that revealed just the stress and no damage to the ulnar security ligament.


"All in all, we got good news," supervisor Aaron Boone said. "I think everyone feared the worst."


Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani remains the excessive NL favorite at -2000 at both books.