Double Your Money If Shohei Ohtani Wins The American League MVP

Major League Baseball is seeing a player pitch and hit with dominance for the first time in 90 years. Here’s a look at a betting play that could be considered for this rare feat.

Ohtani Stats: Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels has a batting average of .263 with 35 runs, 15 home runs and 40 RBIs. Ohtani also has .330 OBP (on-base percentage), .597 SLG (slugging percentage) and .927 OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage).

Ohtani ranks third in the AL for home runs, sixth for RBIs, sixth for total bases (111) and second for slugging percentage.

Along with his impressive batting, Ohtani also pitches for the Angels. Ohtani has pitched in seven games and holds a 1-1 record. Ohtani has an ERA of 2.72 and WHIP of 1.24 through 36.1 innings pitched. Ohtani has 50 strikeouts in the seven games.

In April, Ohtani became the first MLB player to be the starting pitcher in a game while also leading the league in home runs. Ohtani entered the game with seven home runs and was able to pick up the win with nine strikeouts, three runs scored and two RBIs in a well-publicized game.

The last player to be the starting pitcher and lead the league in home runs was Babe Ruth back in 1921.

Ohtani is an exciting player to watch and his capabilities to put up strong numbers as both a hitter and pitcher make him a great candidate to win the MVP, representing the most valuable player in the American League.

The Competition: The main competition for Ohtani is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Guerrero Jr. leads the American League in hits, home runs, batting average and slugging percentage. Guerrero has 17 home runs, 45 RBIs along with a batting average of .335, .440 OBP and .665 SLG.

Betting Odds: DraftKings Inc DKNG has AL MVP betting currently open with Ohtani offered as the favorite.

Ohtani is listed with odds of +130, which would turn a $100 bet into $230 if he wins the AL MVP.

Guerrero Jr. is listed as the second favorite with odds of +275.

Other betting favorites include Xander Bogaerts +1800, Byron Buxton +2000, Aaron Judge +2200 and Mike Trout +2200.

The AL race seems to favor the top two more than the National League. NL MVP betting on DraftKings lists Ronald Acuna at +280 and Fernando Tatis Jr at +350. There are seven players listed at odds of +1800 or under for the NL MVP.

Photo credit: hj_west, Flickr