This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.
I know, I know. I’m getting waaaaaaaay ahead of myself.
But that’s what Shohei Ohtani is doing to me and — I imagine — other baseball fans.
The thought that keeps crossing my brain every time I see the Los Angeles Angels slugger/pitcher do something amazing on the mound or at the plate is “OMG! OMG OMG OMG!”
The second thought: how could he NOT win MVP if he keeps this up?
I’m aware this is a silly argument. A player who leads the league in home runs (32 as of Thursday morning) and is third in RBI (69), as well as a pitcher who has a 3.49 ERA with 87 Ks in 67 innings is, without a doubt, the most valuable player in all of baseball.
But I’m betting that if the Angels are still out of the running for the postseason by September — to be fair, they have won eight of their last 10, but they’re 9.5 games out of first in the AL West — there will be those naysayers who wonder why the Angels aren’t better if they have the American League’s MVP.
To that I say: c’mon. He’s doing it all and really well. It’s not his fault the Angels haven’t pitched well and Mike Trout has missed time due to injury. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said it best earlier in the week: “He’s not the best hitter, he’s not the best pitcher, but if you combine everything, he’s the best player.”
Yep. And if he can dig out a team struggling on the mound that’s missing Trout, there’s even LESS doubt about it.
Quick hits: Bolts win the Cup! … Get to know Noah Lyles … Denny Hamlin’s face is on the hood of his race car … and more.
— The Lightning are Stanley Cup champions once again, and as our Mary Clarke wrote, they’re a dynasty whether you like it or not.
— A shirtless Nikita Kucherov had quite a press conference after the win.
— Our latest Olympic profile: sprinter Noah Lyles, who’s making his Olympic debut.
— You have to see Denny Hamlin’s face on the hood of his race car.