Dumper And Judge Are Bringing The Thrill In The MVP Race | Defector

"At 12:01 a.m. on July 1, Cal Raleigh had 33 home runs, 71 RBIs, a 1.036 OPS, the coolest nickname in baseball (The Big Dumper, in case you needed reminding), and played for a team four games over .500 and farthest from the sport's media center. At that same moment, Aaron Judge had 30 homers, 67 RBIs, a 1.175 OPS, no particular nickname of any sort (sorry John Sterling), played for a team 12 games over .500 and was the sport's media center."

"Two months later, the geography stopped mattering. Raleigh stopped doing much of anything worthy of notice, let alone trophy debate. He hit .183 in July and August, his OPS sat in the mid-.700s, and while he added 17 more homers, he hit .103 in his other 174 at-bats, so when he wasn't trotting around the bases he was trudging back to the dugout."

"But sometimes (well, OK, almost never, but run with us on this) you get what you want even after you're sure you've lost it, and we have again what we forgot we could have back in June: an MVP race. Judge and the Dumper are putting on shows that are mercifully helping distract from the Tigers, Astros and Mets. Wednesday night was the season we wanted in a nutshell."

Cal Raleigh began July with elite power numbers, a distinctive nickname, and playing far from the sport's media center, while Aaron Judge posted strong metrics for the media-centered Yankees. Raleigh slumped in July and August, hitting .183 with an OPS in the mid-.700s and batting .103 in his other 174 at-bats despite adding 17 homers and remaining an elite defensive catcher who played nearly every game. Judge suffered injury but maintained strong production and sustained MVP-level numbers. Both players produced dramatic, attention-grabbing performances later in the season that revived a compelling MVP conversation.

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