The NL MVP race could be coming down to the wire with Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.
With Ohtani no longer pitching, Crow-Armstrong is right in the MVP mix, as it’s a much closer race than it was a month or so ago. So, after the Cubs swept the Dodgers, Crow-Armstrong was asked about the MVP race and gave his honest thoughts about it.
“I would be crazy to say that I don’t want to win an MVP but if we’re talking about having priorities straight, I think mine are pretty straight,” Crow-Armstrong said after the game, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “It’s not on the forefront of my mind. It’s fun to joke about it and it’s fun to acknowledge. And I think it’s absolutely okay to pay attention to, but again, it’s not like following me up to the plate. And yeah, I think if you guys want to talk about all this back and forth, I really should go get in the lab and start pitching. I really should.”
Crow-Armstrong is now the -120 favorite to win the NL MVP, and Cubs manager Craig Counsell believes the chase just adds to the excitement of the season.
“I think it’s fun watching Pete have this season. How that all happens, who knows. I think it’s fun watching a player have this season. It’s a season you remember. You remember seasons like this. You cherish seasons like this. That’s the best part,” Counsell said.
The Cubs star outfielder is hitting .288 with 26 home runs and 69 RBIs this season.
Ohtani Shares Thoughts on MVP Race
With Ohtani no longer pitching, Crow-Armstrong has become the frontrunner to win the NL MVP.
However, Ohtani seemingly doesn’t care about that as he just wants to focus on the Dodgers winning.
“Not really. It’s still too far away to think about that. For me its more important for the team to win,” Ohtani said.
The Dodgers are coming off being swept by the Cubs after being swept by the Boston Red Sox before that. Los Angeles is now 2-8 in its last 10 games. But, they remain 8.5 games up on the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second spot in the NL West.
As for Ohtani, he’s hitting .297 with 26 home runs and 70 RBIs.
PCA-Ohtani Go Head-to-Head in Cubs Sweep
As the Dodgers were looking to avoid being swept, Ohtani hit a leadoff home run on Wednesday.
However, Crow-Armstrong launched a leadoff homer of his own in the bottom of the first. After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was excited to see them go off.
“They were going toe to toe,” Roberts said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of talk about those two guys being the front-runners for the MVP. They both showed up, and you can see that they hear what’s being said about them. And that was fun for the fans.”
The Cubs ended up winning 7-6 to earn a three-game sweep over the Dodgers, which was a statement series for Chicago.
After the sweep, the Cubs improved to 66-49 and are five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the NL Central.
Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong Reveals Honest Thoughts on MVP Race Against Shohei Ohtani