Cal Raleigh delivered the greatest offensive season by a catcher in MLB history, but it wasn’t enough to earn the league’s top honor.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge was named American League MVP on Thursday, narrowly beating out the Seattle Mariners catcher to earn the honor for the third time.
Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani unanimously won his second straight National League MVP, and his fourth MVP Award overall.
Judge earned 17 first-place votes and 13 second-place votes to earn 355 total points, while Raleigh took the other 13 first-place votes and 17 second-place votes to finish a close second with 335. According to the BBWAA, this is the closest MVP race since 2019, when Mike Trout beat Alex Bregman by the same margin.
Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez was a distant third, Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. was fourth and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal was fifth. Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet (eighth, 74 points) and closer Aroldis Chapman (18th, one point) earned down-ballot consideration.
Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber took second in the NL MVP vote behind Ohtani with 23 second-place votes and 260 points, New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto was third with 231 points and Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo was fourth with 196 points.
Though not as historic as his previous 2022 AL MVP campaign in which he hit 62 home runs, Judge still put together one of the best offensive seasons of his career. The 33-year-old won the AL batting title with a .331 average, hit 53 home runs with 114 RBI, posted a 1.144 OPS and 9.7 wins above replacement, and led the AL with 124 walks.
Even with what would normally be an unassailable case, Judge’s victory was far from assured.
Though already the best power-hitting catcher in baseball coming into the season, Raleigh took his game to astonishing new heights in 2025. The 28-year-old became the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs, breaking Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for a switch hitter and Ken Griffey Jr.’s franchise record in the process.
Raleigh also batted .247 with a .948 OPS, led the AL with 125 RBI and graded as one of baseball’s best defensive catchers.
His contributions as a catcher, his work leading the excellent Seattle Mariners pitching staff and his ability as a switch hitter all enhanced Raleigh’s case even though Judge had the superior all-around season offensively, but Judge ultimately came out on top, becoming one of 13 players in history to win MVP at least three times.
In the National League, Ohtani’s victory was a fait accompli.
The two-way sensation enjoyed another remarkable season at the plate, batting .282 with 55 home runs, 102 RBI, 20 stolen bases and a 1.014 OPS. He also returned to the mound after completing his recovery from elbow surgery and posted a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 47 innings.
Ohtani is now just the second player in MLB history to win at least four MVP awards. The other is Barry Bonds, who won MVP a record seven times.
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