Aaron Judge is knocking on the door of the American League MVP conversation after a scorching hot few weeks with he bat.
The Yankees slugger is now +330 at FanDuel Sportsbook to win his second MVP award, just behind his outfield mate Juan Soto, who remains a +260 favorite.
Judge came into the season as the consensus favorite to win the award after a toe injury took away his shot at a second straight MVP last year.
After a slow start for his standards, Judge is in the midst of one of the best months of his career, hitting .376/.495/.906 with 11 home runs and 12 doubles in May.
Judge is now up 17 long balls on the year, which is tied with Gunnar Henderson for the second-most in the majors, with a league-leading 1.029 OPS.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Judge has held his own in center field after switching to the middle of the diamond full-time this season with +1 Outs Above Average so far.
2024 AL MVP odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Juan Soto | +260 |
| Aaron Judge | +330 |
| Bobby Witt Jr. | +400 |
| Gunnar Henderson | +550 |
| Kyle Tucker | +600 |
| Jose Ramirez | 20/1 |
| Corey Seager | 35/1 |
| Rafael Devers | 65/1 |
| Adley Rutschman | 65/1 |
| Salvador Perez | 65/1 |
But Judge’s excellent two months haven’t been enough to surpass his teammate, Soto, who is having a historic season of his own, as the betting favorite.
Soto blasted his 15th dinger of the season Tuesday night against the Angels and is now slashing .312/.408/.581, putting him on pace for a career-best full season.
The free-agent-to-be hit the ground running in pinstripes earlier this spring and quickly took hold of pole position in the AL MVP race.
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The dynamic duo has helped the Yankees jump off to an AL East-leading 37-19 start heading into Wednesday night’s contest in Anaheim.
Judge and Soto are looking to become just the seventh teammates in the divisional era (since 1969) to finish 1-2 in the MVP voting.
They’ll have to fend off Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (+400), Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (+550) and Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker (+600), who round out the top five and are the only other players with odds better than 20/1.
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