r/baseball • u/MoreThanLuck Chicago Cubs • 7h ago
News Pete Crow-Armstrong has overtaken Shohei Ohtani as the most valuable player in baseball this season by fWAR.
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/war651
u/CodymartinSimp San Diego Padres 7h ago
He went from bottom 5 in walk rate to top 30 and basically eliminated his only weakness, i never saw him making this jump let alone in one off season
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u/Riktrmai Chicago Cubs 7h ago
He made the adjustment in-season, which is even more remarkable. His April was terrible
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u/zuavious Colorado Rockies 7h ago
Yea I feel like this keeps getting missed but he was hitting poorly and getting shit on hard all of April this year unbelievable turnaround
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u/aRadioKid Tampa Bay Rays 6h ago
To me it proves he is a world class athlete able to make insane adjustments while in the mix.
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u/Further_Beyond Chicago Cubs 6h ago
He shortened his stance and stands closer to the plate now and all of a sudden became an mvp player
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u/AlarmingBranch1 Los Angeles Dodgers • Anaheim Angels 3h ago
Dude was the best player in the world in June
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u/BeHereNow91 Milwaukee Brewers 6h ago
I was gonna say, he did this in like a weekend. lol
It 100% goes back to our sub mocking him for missing a fly ball in a game we weren’t even playing in. He ended up walking it off for them that night and has basically been an MVP player ever since.
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u/BEARS_SB_LX_CHAMPS Chicago Cubs 3h ago
That was a pretty hilarious week where I feel like he had a terrible error almost every night and since then he just decided to play insane.
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u/Davidellias Milwaukee Brewers • Milwaukee Brewers 3h ago
wasn't that like right after the incident with the Sox fan too.
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u/Sporting_Arsenal Arizona Diamondbacks 2h ago
I remember my whole group chat (myself included) was calling him PCAss and PCAAA when someone sent that clip. He has a 216 WRC+ since...
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 4h ago
I mean he’s only doing shit that immortals like Babe and Gehrig have done. That seems to be more than MVP level. Obviously not enough data for longer projection on that path, especially based on how last year went, but certainly showing off all the stratospheric tools that puts him in that level of conversation.
If he keeps up the at bats like he has been, then yeah, sky is not the limit but the floor for him. In this day and age he’s a star that this sport needs. A pure entertainer on the field, puts on a freaking show for everyone. Like him or not, you’re going to watch every single pitch when he’s at bat or in the field.
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u/BeHereNow91 Milwaukee Brewers 4h ago edited 2h ago
Brother, I’m a homer too but I wouldn’t put even peak 2018-19 Yelich in the Gehrig/Ruth/etc conversation, lol
E: I apologize to the distressed Cubs flairs for using Yelich as an example but the point is it’s insane to put PCA in the Ruth/Gehrig conversation
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u/Mezhead Chicago Cubs 4h ago
I think he's referring to a like 30-day white hot streak that statistically only Ruth and Gehrig did.
And then he ran with it, of course.
We'll see. He still has to show a strong second half before a lot of the skepticism goes away. And given what he's done with his walk rate, it may happen this year.
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u/BeHereNow91 Milwaukee Brewers 2h ago
That 30-day streak included a qualifier of 5 stolen bases according to another comment, which isn’t really a game-changer but I’m assuming it was enough to weed out other players.
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u/Davidellias Milwaukee Brewers • Milwaukee Brewers 3h ago
What about Prince Fielders 2nd best season or Yount's 2nd Best season?
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u/Longjumping_Elk_5517 4h ago
Its very cherry picked, but this is why people say that. This stat was flying around the internet a few weeks ago. " PCA joining Ruth and Gehrig as the only players to have a month in which they batted .375 or higher, had a slugging percentage .775 or better, 80 or more total bases, 15 walks or more, 10 home runs or more and five stolen bases or more"
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u/BeHereNow91 Milwaukee Brewers 2h ago edited 2h ago
A stat based off of both slugging % and total bases is a dead giveaway someone tailor made that to exclude a number of players. Also 5 stolen bases is insignificant but probably enough to eliminate another pool.
I’m willing to bet I could cook up a stat combo that would put Joey Ortiz in the “level of conversation” of Gehrig and Ruth.
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 4h ago
I get that. No worries. That’s fine because I also wouldn’t put Yelich there since Yelich isn’t as good as PCA? No offense meant by that. He had an incredible couple of seasons before the knee and back injuries. Definitely a sly gamer too with how the brewers were sign stealing.
Pete plays in a pitchers park with wild conditions much more frequently and Yelich is in a hitters park with much more consistent playing conditions.
We’re talking about one of the greatest players to play center field defensively, plus putting up numbers that Ruth and Lou did. What exactly do you want me to say? Why hasn’t anyone else done it then? Sure it’s many categories, but that’s a high bar for many categories. The legends of Ruth and Gehrig come down to the consistency of playing at that level, so it obviously remains to be seen for Pete, but if no one else wants to start at that level, then this should be shouted from the rooftops.
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u/wokenupbybacon New York Yankees 3h ago
The legends of Ruth and Gehrig come down to the consistency of playing at that level, so it obviously remains to be seen for Pete, but if no one else wants to start at that level, then this should be shouted from the rooftops.
That's just it though. Other players have had one-two month stretches that good in terms of overall value. Once you open it up to short, half-season or less stretches, a lot more than just Ruth and Gehrig have played as well as PCA has. Judge had stretches like that in each of the last four consecutive seasons. Brycer Harper has done it. Juan Soto has done it. Ohtani has done it. Mookie Betts has done it. And yes, that's great company, but it's not just Gehrig and Ruth, and I intentionally went and found players that would be easy guesses to go verify. Looking closer, 2022 Matt Carpenter did it after being DFA'd by the Rangers. The specific cherry-picked Gehrig and Ruth stat is neat because it's Gehrig and Ruth, but once you start narrowing the scope of a comparison to only include highly specific ways of reaching a value threshold, they're less interesting.
Highly specific composition stat comparisons are not useful for determining the overall 'level' of a player.
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 1h ago
I agree, but I mean the company is literally just Ruth, Gehrig, and PCA for what I mentioned. That’s not something you see much from a defensive specialist that many people see him as. I think adding more info makes it blurry, but it does encompass everything offensively being brought to the table. If you add in the defense then we’re looking at that level of player.
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u/makesterriblejokes World Series Trophy • Los Angeles Dod… 25m ago
Out of curiosity, is he now wearing contacts? I know Muncy and Kiké basically turned around their seasons in the past after getting eye exams and I'm curious if this is another case where a player is just straight up able to see the ball better now.
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u/yeahialreadyknow Chicago Cubs 7h ago
He was the perfect example of someone doomed by his success. In early 2024 he could take pitches way out of the zone and just crush them for dingers, but then pitchers realized he'd swing at anything inside or away and he was striking out in crazy numbers. Just a little patience and now pitchers have to throw strikes and he's fuckin mashing again.
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u/immoralsupport_ Chicago Cubs 5h ago
I honestly think a big part of the adjustment for a hitter like this is realizing that pitchers don’t want to pitch to you. If he goes up to the plate knowing he’s in a pitch around spot, he can be more patient.
His chase rate is still high but he picks his spots a lot more so it’s not as noticeable
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u/Doublestack2411 Chicago Cubs 5h ago
Yeah, this is something we wanted to see Javy Baez do, but he was never able to make that change. You can pretty much pinpoint when PCA started to change.
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u/RIPSlurmsMckenzie Chicago Cubs 4h ago
Closest was 2018. He was like second in MVP I think
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u/InnocuousAssClown Chicago Cubs 2h ago
Even in that season he was in the 1 percentile in chase rate, struck out a ton and never walked. He just made up for it by barreling the hell out of everything he hit.
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u/altfillischryan Chicago Cubs 38m ago
Yeah, he walked just 29 times that season, which is a little more than 1 walk per week.
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u/devoorhes Chicago Cubs 2h ago
I thought he could get better at taking walk. I never expected how much better he'd get, I just kinda figured he'd get out of the basement on that stat
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u/Alive-In-Tuscon Chicago Cubs 4h ago
Said elsewhere, but it was an overnight flip switch. Seemed like moving him to leadoff changed his entire mentality at the plate.
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u/novaesq18 New York Yankees 7h ago
Not fair. He has three names.
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u/HungryHedgehog8299 New York Yankees 7h ago
PCA has 2.1 fWAR per name while Ohtani has 3 fWAR per name. checkmate Cubs
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u/SSGSEVIER54 Chicago Cubs 7h ago
Shohei Crow-Ohtani should fix him right up
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u/ImMilkmanZW New York Yankees 6h ago
Shohei Crowtani was right there, man.
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u/This_is_a_thing__ Chicago White Sox 7h ago
Pete gets to sit up front cuz he's a good guy at sports
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u/Ok_Whatever999 Atlanta Braves 7h ago
Here’s his turtle, alive and well.
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u/RIPSlurmsMckenzie Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Repeat after me. You are NOT in direct competition with eachother
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u/Tommy05Sox Chicago White Sox 7h ago
PCA is taking walks now and that should greatly reduce his volatility going forward. Kudos to him for making that adjustment. It also means he’ll probably age much better than I would have projected a year ago.
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u/jhorch69 Chicago Cubs • Chicago White Sox 7h ago
He came into the season with 50 career walks and already has 52 this year
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u/Billy_Madison69 Chicago Cubs 7h ago
He had 53 career before this year but the point stands
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u/4r4r4real 2h ago
Yeah they're referring to the broadcast showing his 24-25 combined walks, but he was up for a bit in 23 as well.
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u/jhorch69 Chicago Cubs • Chicago White Sox 1h ago
Yeah, I forgot he played a few games in 2023
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u/TheDynasty2430 Chicago Cubs 1h ago
He came up probably too early in 2023. I remember thinking his going hitless for the entire call-up was going to ruin him mentally.
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u/onhalfaheart Chicago Cubs 4h ago
They showed it on the broadcast -- 50 walks in >1000 PA for 2024-25, 50 walks to that point in the season with about 440 PA this season. Then he walked twice more that game.
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u/onhalfaheart Chicago Cubs 4h ago
Yeah, that's what I've been seeing these last few months. Being willing to take walks massively raises his floor. He had a bit of a "cold streak" the last like 6ish games where he had strikeouts, no hits, but still walked several times. And it only lasted until yesterday (honestly even the day before yesterday he had a bunch of hard contact just with nothing to show).
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u/MoreThanLuck Chicago Cubs 7h ago
PCA currently has 6.3 fWAR to Ohtani's 6.0 fWAR. Still within the margin of error, but cool to see nonetheless.
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u/oogieball Dumpster Fire • New York Mets 7h ago
Considering there was a question if Ohtani was ever not going to win MVP again for a while, someone giving him a run for his money is unexpected at best.
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u/Safe-Show-7299 Cincinnati Reds 7h ago
Let’s be real theres still a 0% chance the voters give it to PCA unless Ohtani gets injured
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u/oogieball Dumpster Fire • New York Mets 6h ago
Alternatively, the writers might very well give it to PCA if he ends with higher WAR just so they can be "objective" and to break the cycle legitimately.
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u/aaron-goone 5h ago
if the voters desire to appear objective actually results in them being objective, i don’t have an issue with that
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u/Craig_the_Intern San Diego Padres 3h ago
WAR isn’t actually objective at these margins. From fangraphs:
WAR is not meant to be a perfectly precise indicator of a player’s contribution, but rather an estimate of their value to date. Given the imperfections of some of the available data and the assumptions made to calculate other components, WAR works best as an approximation. A 6 WAR player might be worth between 5.0 and 7.0 WAR, but it is pretty safe to say they are at least an All-Star level player and potentially an MVP.
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u/OkLeather666 4h ago
Right? I love Ohtani but if PCA is the better player, he deserves to be the MVP.
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u/fedswatching2121 Los Angeles Dodgers 3h ago
It doesn’t matter. If Ohtani stays healthy he’ll win it again given that PCA can’t pitch like Ohtani
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u/Pilot_on_autopilot 3h ago
Will Ohtani can't currently pitch like Ohtani right now, either.
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u/fedswatching2121 Los Angeles Dodgers 3h ago
He’ll be back pitching in a couple of weeks assuming no setbacks with recovery from his left knee inflammation
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u/Stationary_Wayfarer New York Yankees • New York Yankees 3h ago
With the way I saw him constantly grabbing at that knee during our series, I wouldn’t necessarily bet on no setbacks
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u/aaron-goone 2h ago
i wouldn’t be so dismissive. he didn’t win in 2022 despite hitting and pitching numbers that will probably end up being comparable to his numbers this year. i do think he’ll win, especially since defense is undervalued in mvp voting, but it’s not impossible
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u/Lower_Pass_6053 National League 1h ago
They did that to Trout, they aren't doin that to the golden child. If it's close, Ohtani is going to get it.
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u/Dazzling-Attorney891 New York Mets 6h ago
He’s already injured. He hasn’t pitched since the beginning of July
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u/DrStranger1987 6h ago
It would take some kind of knee injury that keeps him off the mound and relegates him strictly to DH duties. Could never happen.
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u/AzorAhai1TK Detroit Tigers 6h ago
He already is injured. And the less he pitches the farther away a .930 OPS DH gets from MVP conversations.
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u/4r4r4real 2h ago
Ohtani is literally shut down from pitching rn and had to get a knee injection last week.
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u/Mediocre_Airport_576 Los Angeles Dodgers 2h ago
I mean... Shohei is injured. He's missing starts right now -- lowering his WAR.
If he can get healthy, he will likely run away with it.
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u/CallmeCap Chicago Cubs 2h ago
I mean, Ohtani the pitcher is hurt currently so there's a world where he doesn't pitch the rest of the year and doesn't get it right?
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u/Extension-Click-8271 Los Angeles Dodgers 2h ago
Well the only question was health, and he’s not healthy, so it’s not that unexpected.
He’s not doing the other half of the thing that makes him the most valuable player
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u/Environmental_Lab808 1h ago
If ohtani cools off and doesnt pitch for extended time and pete has another june it could change the narrative a whole bunch
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u/Drunken_Wizard23 New York Yankees 7h ago
As a fan of an AL East team I don't watch the cubs too often but this sub had me under the impression that PCA was grossly overrated
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u/jaytothen1 Chicago Cubs 6h ago
Beginning of the season was rough with SO's and swinging at everything out the zone. And he had some poor fielding games and gave up a little league homerun.
Then April ended and he went nuclear.
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u/devoorhes Chicago Cubs 2h ago
His walk rate was trending up even early this season (based on his previous standards). It was the thing that made me think he was going to start breaking out
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u/RichInBunlyGoodness 5h ago
People do no realize how good he is on defense, because a lot of his range comes from the incredible jump he gets. He's snagging 58% of 5* catches. Nobody else can do that, but he has so much range he makes a lot of those difficult catches look easy.
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u/jksmlmf Baltimore Orioles 4h ago
The problem with making it look easy is that people think it’s easy.
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u/Davidellias Milwaukee Brewers • Milwaukee Brewers 3h ago
That and you'll see him only when he botches a play cause everything else is routine.
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u/1738_bestgirl Chicago Cubs 20m ago
Yeah and he's "botching" a play that other players wouldn't even be in vicinity let alone getting a glove on it.
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u/Cishir Chicago Cubs 5h ago
Also he makes prior 'impossible' catches look almost look as if he has done something wrong because he doesn't quite get to it. He is an amazing athlete, but the reason why I defended him hard last year while he struggled or showed emotion is I think it cannot be overstated the insane work ethic it takes to be that good at getting jumps on fly balls. The countless hours spent shagging fly balls so that when you see a ball in flight there is no hesitation. It is to the point where if he makes a mistake on a route I assume the wind did fuckery (and it is Chicago, so the wind probably did fuckery)
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u/EliteStat18 Texas Rangers 1h ago
People don't realize how good his defense is because the average fan doesn't care about defense as long as you don't commit errors.
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u/dilapidated_wookiee Chicago Cubs 4h ago
Can you imagine his numbers if he played in a larger center field like Comerica?
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u/Lower_Pass_6053 National League 1h ago
He also has an elite defender to his right in Ian Happ who has won 4 consecutive gold gloves. It isn't even like he is running the entire outfield at Wrigley
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u/Queen-Makoto Seattle Mariners 6h ago
Usual cycle of player breaking out and starting to get a lot of hype then having some of their flaws exposed and there being a backlash to the hype
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u/xxquickk Los Angeles Dodgers 3h ago
I got the chance to watch Miz a while back and seeing PCA foul off a 105.5 from Miz told me that PCA is legit.
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u/LucasDudacris New York Mets 6h ago
There's been a rise and fall and rise and fall and rise already in his very short career.
Throughout the minors he had very poor plate discipline. He came up go the majors and hit like gang busters and built a lot of hype, but haters/skeptics/reasonable fans figured that's the kind of thing that swings the other way at some point. It absolutely did for a bit, but now he seemingly fixed his plate discipline and is a different animal.
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u/Character-Owl9408 Chicago Cubs 5h ago
This sub religiously upvoted “PCAAA” comments. I’m just happy to see they know they were wrong
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u/onhalfaheart Chicago Cubs 4h ago
He had a cold streak for sure. All of last year's second half and much of April this year. He'll probably continue to have cold streaks, but the new approach he has seems like they shouldn't be nearly as bad anymore.
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u/Davidellias Milwaukee Brewers • Milwaukee Brewers 3h ago
He's definitely a player I wish wasn't in the NL Central. I could like him a lot more if he was on the Mets still. He plays MLB baseball like a little leaguer who never grew up (I mean this in a positive way)
His big flaw is he seems to let people or bad plays get in his head a lot. So He'll still get one or two bad plays and people will latch on to those rather than the routine plays we don't see.
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u/JustJeneius Chicago Cubs 7h ago
TV doesn't do him justice, I went to the Reds game recently and this mofo is fast as hell.
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u/TrainElegant425 Chicago Cubs 6h ago
I was at the brewer game where he scooped away the homerun from Yellich and seeing that in person was unbelievable
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u/CyclonePower96 6h ago
When I'm at a game I just watch PCA in the outfield as soon as I hear contact. His first step is a marvel to watch in person.
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u/Glum-Professional925 New York Mets 7h ago
Yeah but what about Baez/s
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u/smarjorie New York Mets • Hartford Yard Goats 7h ago
God I hate this cursed franchise
Traded a future mvp and still ended that season with what was arguably one of the worst collapses ever (I'm pretty sure it was a record for the most days spent in first place by a team that ended up missing the playoffs. They didn't even finish .500
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u/Jpkmets7 New York Mets 7h ago
I legit wish I could quit being a Mets fan and adopt another team to root for. They are just too stupid both historically and currently for me to really support. But I can’t find it in myself to root for another team, no matter how many Kazmir trades I see. So i just end up with seasons of disengagement. Thank god for the Knicks.
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u/ZiggyILM San Diego Padres 7h ago
I adopted the Mets in the late 90s/early 00s; felt like kindred spirits a little. I can’t guarantee less pain but the Padres offer a West coast team with exciting moments and potential. Sound familiar?
P.S. I will still randomly say “Benny Agbayani” to myself for no reason. No one understands me.
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u/rented4823 Milwaukee Brewers • Madison Mallards 5h ago
After seeing how many Mets fans were at Petco when Bartolo hit his homer, it feels like a good match
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u/Jpkmets7 New York Mets 6h ago
I would never be able to actually leave a sports team I love, it’s just not a possibility. Best I can do is convince myself I don’t care that much for a while and hope they are less infuriating next year.
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u/RIPSlurmsMckenzie Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Imagine saying "thank god for the knicks" like a few years ago.
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u/Character-Owl9408 Chicago Cubs 5h ago
If it makes you feel better, Baez was actually extremely good down the stretch that year and wasn’t the reason for the collapse. So yall might’ve gotten only a half a year outta him, but you got the very best Javy Baez possible
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u/Glum-Professional925 New York Mets 7h ago
World cup ending has made it really rough with no sports on TV right now
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u/Spatmuk New York Mets 5h ago
Ok yeah, I understand this critique, but he played 6 games in the Mets system and was coming off a shoulder injury.
Like, was he a 1st round pick? Yes.
Am I bummed that the Mets traded him? Yes.
But credit goes to the Cubs for acquiring him and helping him to develop into the HITTER he is today. There’s no guarantee he would have done this with the Mets, prospects aren’t a sure thing - look at he struggles the Mets have had developing the bats of Baty, Alvarez, Vientos, and Mauricio, and tell me you’re confident that PCA wouldn’t have been up-and-down from AAA and being told to “sell out and pull for more power” by the Mets coaching staff.
The Baez trade made sense at the time and he was REALLY good (he had a 141 WRC+)
I get that “lolMets” but I’m tired of this notion that the Mets traded Ken Griffey Jr in his prime for a bag of balls: PCA was a 50 grade prospect on fangraphs - there were significant questions about his approach. Give him and the Cubs credit for making improvements.
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u/dilapidated_wookiee Chicago Cubs 4h ago
I was born with generational hate for the Mets, I legitimately enjoy seeing your franchise toil in the mud. That being said, y'all get way too much hate for that trade.
It is the risk of doing business at the deadline, sometimes prospects explode through their ceilings and most of the time you forget who they were three years later.
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u/Spatmuk New York Mets 4h ago
lol Ok wow, fuck you too, I guess, to be fair as a Mets fan I also have a generational hatred for the Mets…
But yes, I agree with you:
I’m sure the Giants didn’t love giving up Zack Wheeler for 2 months of Carlos Beltran
The Cano/Kelenic/Diaz trade had the “winner” shift about 100 times.
Prospects are kind of a crapshoot!
I love watching PCA - I wish he played for the Mets - I don’t hate the Cubs for that trade.
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u/devoorhes Chicago Cubs 2h ago
I may be misremembering, but I thought Baez played decently down the stretch for the Mets after a rough start? People act like he played the way he did his first few years in Detroit
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 7h ago
Wild to see that he’s now literally more than doubling Rafaela, Pages, Corbin Carroll, Buck, and Harris Jr on this after starting the season so slowly.
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u/cmgriffith_ New York Yankees 7h ago
He's having a fantastic season. Higher walk rate, higher OBP, is electric on the bases and is probably the best defender in the game regardless of position.
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u/Further_Beyond Chicago Cubs 5h ago
He already has the most 0-25% catch probability catches in statcasts history, more than Kevin Keirmeir… and that’s in 2.5 seasons. 33 outs in 63 opportunities, Kevin with 32 in 116 opportunities.
He’s the best defender in baseball
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 4h ago
I don’t see how he doesn’t end up being one of, or, the best of all time defensively. It’s unbelievable watching fly balls that is surely guaranteed a double or triple, where Pete just comes flying out of nowhere to easily make the catch.
Personally I love the quote from him back when he was drafted: “I was born to play center field”. Clearly that was the case. He just forgot that defensive specialists aren’t usually this great at hitting either.
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u/GItPirate Chicago Cubs 3h ago
He is already performing and making catches that no one has been able to make. He's already 1 of 1. My money is he goes down as the best defensive outfielder ever.
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Yep, the only question mark is how long this lasts. There have been a lot of players with what if questions that could have been hall of famers if not for injuries or whatnot.
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u/GItPirate Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Kris Bryant 🫡
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u/IcemanJEC Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Even he wasn’t at the level Pete is at, which is insane to think about.
I was thinking more along the lines of Grady Sizemore. KB’s career more followed the Troy Glaus route, which was tall powerful third baseman who had to move to OF with back injuries. KB was better defensively, but nowhere near this scale.
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u/_banthafodder Seattle Mariners 1h ago
You jabronis can just take this wonderland circlejerk into your subreddit at this point lmao
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u/Lower_Pass_6053 National League 1h ago
The amazing catch last night for instance... A couple more feet and he is on the IL because of the brick wall he crashes into.
Trout will go down as one of the best, but his "going for it" attitude in center has cost him the last couple years of his prime as well.
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u/SleezyMeerkat 7h ago
His extension is going to go down as one of the best contracts in baseball history, just based on his defense.
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u/TwinsWin839 Minnesota Twins 7h ago
I remember lots of people crapping on him and the Cubs for giving him that contract extension during his awful first month of the season..
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u/Sweet-Ad3893 Chicago Cubs 7h ago
There’s a lot of season left. It’s really cool and I’m happy he’s finding another level, but he has to maintain this now.
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u/IAWD_Sometime Los Angeles Angels • Los Angeles Dodgers 5h ago
Tbh if Pete keeps performing like this til the end of season he is going to win NL MVP. Ohtani’s injury affects his performance not just pitching but batting has been decline since the injury announce. Anyway there’s a lot of season left, anything can happens.
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u/Doublestack2411 Chicago Cubs 5h ago
It's amazing how Pete suddenly learned how to take pitches and take his walks. It's something Javy Baez was never able to do after all this time.
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u/crabcakesandfootball New York Yankees 7h ago
That’s based on the FIP version of pitching WAR. Ohtani still has the edge with the RA9 version.
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u/fromagel Boston Red Sox 7h ago
Doesn’t matter. Ohtani is a thing of the past now.
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u/bonkers-joeMama 5h ago
Those missed starts by ohtani definitely affecting things. Gotta come back to the mound to lock the mvp, now will the dodgers let him pitch ?
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u/DeanMcQueen0621 1h ago
Roberts said either yesterday or this morning there is no time table for Ohtani to return to the mound.
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u/onhalfaheart Chicago Cubs 4h ago
With Ohtani not pitching indefinitely, we have a real MVP race. Whether certain fans will admit it or not.
Amazing they were so neck and neck even with Ohtani pitching. What PCA's doing this year is unreal.
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u/Suitable-Jacket-6547 6h ago
God damn Pete Wheeler looking mother fucker. Stop being so good.
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u/DanglyPants Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Why is this downvoted! He’s Pete wheeler with an amazing glove. His name is even Pete!
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u/--Shake-- Chicago Cubs 5h ago
Can you believe how much the Dodgers are paying for that Ohtani bum?
/s
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u/doctor_sleep Boston Red Sox • Wally 3h ago
It's because his sister is a superhero cheerleader, duh.
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u/Tasty-Action-5295 Chicago Cubs 3h ago
Might be watching a future Hall of Famer in the making fellas
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u/NeonWarpaintz Chicago White Sox 3h ago
PCA can suck my dick, bitch.
lol, he’s a great baseball player tho.
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u/namastexinxbed Atlanta Braves 7h ago
Isn’t it emphasized that there is no distinction in WAR that is so close, 0.3 higher or lower, it is not like having more hits or RBI
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u/HungryHedgehog8299 New York Yankees 7h ago
I believe the statmakers mean for it to have a deviation of about 1 WAR in either direction. So reasonably PCA could be worth anywhere from 5.3-7.3 WAR right now. its meant to be a ballpark not the end all be all, but everybody either takes it as a completely useless made up stat or the only thing that matters
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u/namastexinxbed Atlanta Braves 5h ago
This is exactly what I said?
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u/HungryHedgehog8299 New York Yankees 5h ago
Im agreeing with you, just adding extra context and evidence for how the stat is meant to work
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u/Sweet-Ad3893 Chicago Cubs 6h ago
Right, but this is fun to see as a cubs fan so I’m ignoring any grains of salt. Realistically if we step back and really think about this obviously Ohtani has added more value to his team.
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u/papoluca40 6h ago
Let’s see how much people really respect WAR now lol. Cause you guys only use it when is convenient
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u/Eswin17 Chicago Cubs 6h ago
I do think it puts slightly too much weight on defense, but it's fairly decent and I've never said otherwise. If you sort it by descending order, you can never say 'this is outrageous.' It generally conveys the best overall players.
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u/papoluca40 5h ago
So throw it away if people can just say “it puts slightly too much weight on defense”
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u/T_Raycroft Montreal Expos 7h ago
Nothing like just adding 40 points to batting average and nearly 100 points to OBP.