NL MVP Odds: Shohei Ohtani Stock Rising after Winning Player of the Week

Shohei Ohtani entered the year with the fourth-best odds to win the National League MVP at +950, according to FanDuel. He trailed only Ronald Acuña Jr. (+500), Mookie Betts (+650) and Freddie Freeman (+900) in his quest to win his third MVP, and first in the National League.

However, the superstar’s odds are now +550 after a scorching hot stretch in which he was named the NL Player of the Week. Ohtani hit a ridiculous .524 with three home runs, seven RBIs and a 1.535 OPS, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers go 5-1 against the reigning NL champion Arizona Diamondbacks and star-studded Atlanta Braves.

Overall, Ohtani leads MLB in batting average (.364), slugging percentage (.685), OPS (1.111) and hits (52), and he is tied for the league lead in home runs (10).

Still, he isn’t the current favorite to take home the NL MVP. In fact, he isn’t even the highest Dodger on the list. That honor belongs to Betts, who is the odds-on favorite at +145. Betts leads all of baseball in WAR (3.1), OBP (.459) and runs (31).

On the other hand, a certain Dodger has seen his stock plummet over the first month-plus of the season in Freeman. The first-baseman had the third-best odds heading into the year, but is now ninth at +3600. Freeman is hitting .297 but has only two home runs on the year, putting him on a nine-HR pace after averaging 28.4 over the last five full MLB seasons.

Meanwhile, Elly De La Cruz’s stock has skyrocketed, as the phenom has been one of the most exciting players in the league. He was +80000 to win NL MVP entering his second season in the bigs, but now has the fifth-best odds at +1500 after a scintillating start to the year. De La Cruz is hitting .271 with eight home runs and 19 stolen bases, putting him on pace to hit nearly 40 homers and steal over 100 bases over the course of the season.

NL MVP Award Odds

Odds via FanDuel as of May 6.