Shohei Ohtani Should Still Win American League MVP If He's Traded To The National League This Season

I saw this tweet last night and it got me thinking if Shohei Ohtani could really win the American League MVP playing 60 games in the National League. And then I looked at the numbers and I'm not sure it's even a discussion.

Through Monday night, Ohtani is hitting .306/.391/.677 (MLB-leading 1.068 OPS) with 35 HR and 75 RBI. The next-best hitter in the AL is probably Yandy Diaz, who has a .918 OPS, 13 HR and 43 RBI. Diaz is hitting .322 and will probably end the season with a higher batting average, but he wouldn't equal Ohtani's HR and RBI numbers if they ended where they are right now. And oh by the way, Ohtani also has a 3.50 ERA with 139 strikeouts in 105 innings this season.

If Ohtani had a season-ending injury today, he should still win the AL MVP, so why would it be any different if he keeps having one of the best seasons in baseball history in the National League? The conversation people should be having is if Ohtani could find a way to also win the NL MVP in just two months. I don't think there's a path to unseating Ronald Acuña Jr. with the season he's had, but if Ohtani hit 25 homers in 60 games and had a 1.15 ERA in 12 starts, he'd have to at least be in the conversation.

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I'm not putting anything past this guy anymore.