3. DH Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
2024 Stats: 82 G, 375 PA, 26 HR, 16 SB, .316 AVG, .399 OBP, .635 SLG
It is funny to think that Ohtani has slumped a couple times this year. He went homerless through his first eight games, and he more recently had a 19-game stretch in which he cleared the fence only twice.
Yet now here he is leading the National League in home runs, average, slugging percentage, OPS, total bases and, even though he's taking the year off from pitching, rWAR as well.
With Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper on the IL, a third MVP for Ohtani is looking like a strong possibility. And barring some kind of catastrophe, it's all but a given that we'll all finally get to see him in October.
2. SS Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
2024 Stats: 83 G, 380 PA, 26 HR, 13 SB, .288 AVG, .384 OBP, .604 SLG
It took some willpower to not put Henderson at No. 1 on this list. He does, after all, lead all his fellow players in both rWAR and fWAR.
The only defense I have is that he gets a default leg up by virtue of being a shortstop, but he's nothing if not a darn good one. All the metrics agree on as much concerning his work in the field, and it's noteworthy that he's on pace for 50 homers.
Only Alex Rodriguez has ever gone there as a primary shortstop, and even he never achieved an OPS+ as high as the 183 mark Henderson has now. That's more so Honus Wagner territory, and suffice to say shortstops don't usually tread there.
