Padres Star Named MVP Favorite Ahead of Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani by Experts

According to a recent poll of MLB experts, Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. is viewed as the early season favorite for the National League Most Valuable Player, surpassing the current reigning MVP, Shohei Ohtani.

The Padres slugger is off to a great start, posting a slash line of .319/.388/.549 with eight home runs, 19 RBIs, and eight stolen bases.

He has already produced 2.2 WAR, ranking fourth in the NL, and has put up a wRC+ of 163, which measures a player's run creation where the baseline is 100.

MLB.com reporter Jason Foster polled 46 experts on who the NL MVP is so far this season, with Tatis ranking at the top based on total votes. However, it's worth mentioning that Pete Alonso of the New York Mets received one more first-place vote.

"Tatis is back to hitting like a superstar, with his .328 average through Sunday pacing all NL outfielders and his .973 OPS ranking third among all NL players. He had eight homers and eight stolen bases entering Monday, putting him on pace for his first 40-40 season. Tatis is already at 2.1 WAR this season, according to the FanGraphs model, and he's on pace to finish with 10.6 WAR," Foster wrote in the story.

While the statistics are impressive, Tatis's value to the Padres cannot be overstated, especially given the number of injuries the team has faced during the early part of the season.

He has been leading the offensive production alongside Manny Machado, while Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth and Luis Arraez — three key offensive players — experienced notable stints on the injured list.