Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has taken over as the American League MVP favorite with his closest rival, Aaron Judge, heading to the injured list.
Raleigh hit home runs in consecutive games over the weekend to extend his major league lead to 41. It is already seven more than his career high, and Raleigh has tied Todd Hundley (1996) for the most home runs in a season by a switch-hitting catcher.
Judge has led the MVP race most of the season, but the New York Yankees slugger will miss an undetermined amount of time due to a flexor strain. The two-time AL MVP currently paces the majors in batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.711).
However, Raleigh has now passed Judge for the AL RBI lead, 86 to 85, and is only one behind Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez for the major league lead.
Raleigh is now the -130 AL MVP favorite at DraftKings and is -135 at BetMGM. Judge has the second shortest odds at +100 of +105, respectively. It’s still a two-player race, with the third-shortest odds belonging to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal at +4000 at both books.
BetMGM reported that Raleigh is now the book’s biggest liability in the AL MVP market, having been backed by the most total money wagered at 28.6 percent. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. leads with the most total bets placed at 19.6 percent but is currently a +8000 longshot.
The gap between Raleigh and Judge could continue to widen depending on how long the Yankees star is sidelined.
Judge experienced discomfort, wincing on a throw during New York’s three-game series in Toronto last week. He was in more discomfort Friday and the Yankees sent him for tests that revealed only the strain and no damage to the ulnar collateral ligament.
“All in all, we got good news,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think all of us feared the worst.”
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani remains the prohibitive NL favorite at -2000 at both books.