The American League MVP race between Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge has come down to the wire. Despite Raleigh reaching 60 home runs, there might be another factor that could impact the outcome.
Marc Craig of The Athletic recently suggested that Raleigh could be somewhat aided by voter fatigue since Judge won the award in both 2022 and 2024.
“Raleigh could theoretically benefit from voter fatigue. Among the voters polled, however, there are differing views about any actual impact,” Craig wrote.
“While I don’t think that’s necessarily fair, there is a part of me that thinks this in the back of my head,” one voter said about voter fatigue. “Judge will probably win another two or three MVPs in his career. He is already locked in as an all-time great. Cal Raleigh is never going to have a season like this again. I believe it is possibly a once-in-a-generation season offensively for a catcher.”
Voters may favor Judge since he has been significantly better in terms of both WAR and OPS. But Raleigh’s home runs and RBIs could be seen as more critical since he also played one of the sport’s most taxing positions.
“I’m leaning toward voting for Raleigh over Judge,” another voter said. “Not because Raleigh reached the 60-homer mark, but because he has put up monster power numbers, with considerably more homers and RBIs than Judge, while playing perhaps the most physically demanding position in all of sports.”
“And it’s not like Raleigh has caught half of his team’s games; he’s made 120 starts behind the plate, guiding a pitching staff that ranks 10th in MLB with a 3.87 ERA and dealing with all the bumps and bruises that come with the job.”
As the final weekend of the regular season looms, voters will have a challenging decision ahead of them. The Mariners and Yankees’ All-Stars have put on a show all summer, and they’ve each made a compelling MVP case along the way.
