While Shohei Ohtani maintains his reign over the National League, still a clear-cut favorite to lock down his fourth MVP award in five years, the American League is much less set in stone. That's due to an injury sustained by Aaron Judge and the Yankees star's subsequent struggles in his return to the lineup.

The race for American League MVP for a while seemed like a foregone conclusion. Unless Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge suffered a significant injury, the award was likely his. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh just won't go away, though, so what we're left with is a potentially amazing two-man race for the hardware.

The one saving grace is Aaron Judge, who is having another scorching year at the plate, and consistent dominance is entering rarified air in a historic context. A collection of ESPN baseball analysts recently ranked Judge as the best player in the sport and predicted him to win his third MVP with a significant injury caveat.