Rookie of the Year, AL home run king, and now MVP. After breaking Roger Maris’ 61-year-old AL home run record and compiling an offensive campaign unseen since the days of Barry Bonds, Aaron Judge finally wins his first MVP. He also does it in emphatic fashion, picking up 28 of the 30 possible first-place votes. The defending MVP, Shohei Ohtani, earned the other two top nods, but Judge reigns supreme as the best player in 2022.
Judge certainly had a worthy adversary in Ohtani, who became the first player in almost 150 years to lead his team in both innings pitched and plate appearances.