MLB

MLB experts make early MVP picks for the American and National League: These are the early leaders

There’s one unanimous pick for MVP in the American League, while things are far closer in the National League.

DUSTIN SATLOFF | AFP

Scottish journalist and lifelong sports fan who grew up in Edinburgh playing and following football (soccer), cricket, tennis, golf, hockey… Joined Diario AS in 2012, becoming Director of AS USA in 2016 where he leads teams covering soccer, American sports (particularly NFL, NBA and MLB) and all the biggest news from around the world of sport.

Update: May 6th, 2025 15:32 EDT

The first MVP poll of the season, conducted by MLB.com, is in. 46 baseball experts chose their favorite players for MVP - with their ballots being cast on both performance so far AND how they see things going over the rest of the season.

MLB MVP poll rules

The MVP poll is carried out by each of the experts ranking their top five picks in order, with the first pick getting five points, second pick getting four and so on. The total number of points is then tallied to calculate the results.

Aaron Judge: number one for everyone

46 experts, 46 first place votes for Aaron Judge in the American League.

The Yankees player is the unanimous MVP frontrunner, hitting an incredible .423 through Sunday while leading MLB in nearly every major offensive category: hits (55), runs (32), RBIs (33), OBP (.510), SLG (.777), and OPS (1.287).

Riding a 14-game hitting streak, Judge is hitting .474 with a 1.348 OPS and nine multi-hit games. He’s on pace for 481 total bases — far beyond Babe Ruth’s record of 457 in 1921.

The also-rans in the American League

Clearly nobody other than Aaron Judge got any first-place votes in the MVP poll, but the next players in terms of points garnered were:

Bobby Witt Jr., Royals

Alex Bregman, Red Sox

Cal Raleigh, Mariners

José Ramírez, Guardians

National League MVP standings

In the National League, things are far tighter. And the first place player, Fernando Tatis Jr. actually has fewer first-place votes (16) than the second placed player, the Mets Pete Alonso (17), with other votes putting Tatis into first place.

Tatis’ .328 average through Sunday and his .973 OPS, along with eight homers and eight stolen bases putting him on track for his first 40-40 season, saw him take top spot in the NL MVP poll.

Four-time All-Star Alonso though is actually leading the NL with a .344 average and a 1.124 OPS. He’s also hit eight homers.

Rounding out the top five in the National League:

Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (eight first-place votes)

Kyle Tucker, Cubs (four first-place votes)

Corbin Carroll, D-backs (no first-place votes)