Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports

2021 AL MVP runner-up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. goes to bat for Aaron Judge over Shohei Ohtani for 2022 award

There appear to only be two players with a real shot at taking home the 2022 AL MVP award: Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The race for the hardware may be the most tightly contested of all the major awards in MLB this fall, as both superstars could make very legitimate cases for being named the MVP.

Last week, longtime announcer Joe Buck discussed both candidates, and while he said Ohtani was "unbelievable," a "great guy" and "doing something we've never seen" (with his two-way talents), he made it clear that he was taking Judge for the crown. Buck picked Judge "hands down," noting that the outfielder's team — the New York Yankees — are headed to the postseason, while Ohtani's Los Angeles Angels aren't.

On Thursday, Toronto Blue Jays All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. expressed his agreement with Buck. Guerrero was the 2021 AL MVP runner-up to Ohtani.

Both players enter action Thursday with 513 at-bats and looking at Judge's and Ohtani's offensive numbers this season, the former has the edge in home runs (57 to 34), RBI (123 to 88), runs scored (117 to 80), hits (159 to 136) and stolen bases (16 to 11), among other categories, and has a better slash line (.310/.413/.688 to .265/.355/.534). Ohtani has the advantage in doubles (24 to 23) and triples (6 to 0).

On the mound, the 28-year-old native of Japan has gone 12-8 with a 2.55 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and has recorded 188 strikeouts across 141 innings pitched covering 24 starts.

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