A couple of weeks ago, Pete Crow-Armstrong overtook Shohei Ohtani in the National League MVP race, but he is now running away with the award.
When Ohtani was pitching and hitting at an elite level, the MVP seemed like his to lose. However, knee and biceps injuries have kept him off the mound in the second half, and the injuries have started to impact him at the plate. Still, a slump at the plate for Ohtani has him at 30 home runs and a .902 OPS, so the belief was that if he returned to the mound, he could still win MVP.
However, after four days out of the Dodgers lineup, Ohtani reported that he was feeling discomfort in his biceps and neck while hitting; the team has noted that it is unlikely he will pitch again this season. Ohtani has noted that he will focus on hitting for the rest of the year, and perhaps that will break his slump. However, it essentially locks in Crow-Armstrong as the 2026 NL MVP.
Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs will be a wild-card team in the postseason, but as long as he is in the lineup, they have a chance to make a run. He leads the National League in OPS and is five stolen bases shy of a 40-homer, 40-steal season.
He has also played Platinum Glove-caliber defense in center field. He was likely locked in to win MVP when Ohtani started slumping at the plate, but now that there is little to no chance Ohtani pitches again, Crow-Armstrong can start preparing his speech.
The Cubs still have work to do in the regular season, and it's likely that they will have to face Ohtani and the Dodgers in October if they want to win the World Series.