00:00When we last spoke, we were talking about whether or not Ohtani could be coming back to pitch,
00:05and will it actually make a difference, given the fact that Pete Crow Armstrong in the marketplace
00:11pretty much is your favorite to win the National League MVP?
00:16Now, you mentioned that you might have a take here.
00:19You want to run by me here.
00:21Is there anything Ohtani can do?
00:24Maybe not.
00:25Maybe not.
00:26And I would also say, in defense of war, which is what we all go by these days,
00:30and that's what pays the bills, Pete Crow Armstrong, somehow his war is going to be way ahead of Shohei
00:37Ohtani's.
00:38I believe that PCA is now nine, and I think Shohei Ohtani may be eight or something like that.
00:44But here is what—and so this is why I think that war may be bogus for Ohtani,
00:50because here's what I don't understand.
00:51This is what I would ask you, Joe.
00:52I want you to live in a world with me where Shohei Ohtani did not pitch to an 8-2
01:01record
01:02with a sub-2 ERA over 14 starts in April, May, and June.
01:08I want you to live with me in that world for a minute.
01:11And I want you to pretend—and I want you to pretend that Shohei Ohtani didn't pitch those three months,
01:17and he came back in July and made his 14 starts from July through the end of the season
01:24and went 8-2 with a sub-2 ERA and 95 strikeouts for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
01:32Who would be the NL MVP if that was the case?
01:35I think him going on the IL has crushed his MVP race.
01:39Why?
01:40He's already done what he did in terms of stats.
01:43So I believe that if Ohtani made 14 starts down the stretch, and his ERA was sub-2,
01:50and he was amazing hitting—I think he'd be the MVP.
01:52But because he did it in the first half of the season, it's like it doesn't count.
01:56Maybe I'm the crazy one here, but that's the way I see it.
02:00I don't think you're the crazy one here.
02:02Actually, I kind of agree with you.
02:06His—him being or not pitching anymore has taken him out of—it's kind of crazy.
02:12It's taken him out of the headlines.
02:14Nobody's talking about him yet.
02:16He's been very good still from the plate, still one of the more effective hitters, right,
02:22in Major League Baseball.
02:24Pete Cromstrong has had bigger moments over the last month.
02:28I am with you.
02:29Had he had a couple of starts and threw a two-hitter or went eight innings and, you know,
02:34shut up—we'd be probably having a totally different conversation because it is lopsided,
02:39Craig, right now.
02:40It is really—it's almost as if Ohtani hasn't played baseball at all for the last two months,
02:46which is bonkers to me because doesn't it matter what he also—that he pitched half
02:51the season already?
02:52Does that not matter?
02:53No, apparently not.
02:54No, it's like those stats don't count almost.
02:56It feels like it just—they didn't happen, but I could tell you that if this was going
03:00on right now and Ohtani was pitching every fifth day and the Dodgers were winning, it
03:04would be—it would be this back-and-forth battle to win the MVP with Pete Cromstrong
03:08and Shohei Ohtani, and right now it's not because Ohtani's not pitching, but he already
03:13did.
03:13Which is crazy.
03:14Like, he already did.
03:15Like, those stats count.
03:17And when he was doing that, I got news for you.
03:19Pete Cromstrong was not doing that great in April and May.
03:22He was not.
03:23But because he's come on fire late, that's giving him the MVP.
03:28Now, the counterargument that the baseball analyst would give me is, hey, look, look
03:33at the war, the war between the two players.
03:36Pete Cromstrong has the higher war.
03:38And I guess I have to say, okay, but it doesn't feel right.
03:41It feels wrong to me that Ohtani is being punished for not being able to make 30 starts
03:48this season.
03:49The guy made 14 starts.
03:51Since ERA was under two, he went eight and two.
03:53And it's like, who cares?
03:55You did that in June.
03:56Does not exist.
03:57Crazy to me.
03:58Yeah.
03:58Which is kind of crazy when you think about it, though.
04:00You're right.
04:01Yeah.
04:02It's like he's still pretty good here, guys.
04:05Still pretty good.
04:06But Pete Cromstrong, give him credit.
04:08The guy has been absolutely mauling.
04:09I'm not taking anything away from him.
04:11Yeah.
04:12Nope.
04:12Nope.
04:13Let's see if he can do it against teams not named the Reds.
04:16Listen, I don't want this to happen.
04:19And I'm not saying it's going to happen, but you have been watching this game as long
04:24as I have, if not the same or longer.
04:27Okay.
04:28If the Cubs play the Phillies and they face Lizardo, Wheeler, and Sanchez in three games
04:35and Pete Crow Armstrong goes one for 12 with four strikeouts and the people would have
04:42and everyone would have voted him the MVP.
04:45And then Otani goes on this tear in the playoffs.
04:47Everyone's going to go, oh, maybe we voted for the wrong guy to win the MVP.
04:52Like Aaron Judge is not Mr. Postseason either.
04:55But the second that the regular season ends, he gets voted for American League MVP for good
04:59reason.
05:01As long as I live, a guy who pitches and hits.
05:06I'll say this.
05:08You don't even have to wait that long.
05:09So if Pete Crow Armstrong goes one of 15 against the Brewers and Otani comes back and throws
05:16a one hitter this weekend, if he comes back to pitch over here, we're probably next week
05:22at this time on Monday, having a totally different conversation.
05:25Are we not?
05:26I think it's that volatile.
05:27I think it's that volatile.
05:29I think people will look for a reason to get Otani to vote for him, but he's got to get
05:34back
05:34on the mound here at some point.
05:36But why?
05:36It seems like it's not fair.
05:38He already was.
05:38He already made 15 starts.
