Aaron Judge has some stiff competition early on for the 2026 American League MVP award.
Looking for his third straight and fourth MVP in five years, Judge remains the favorite after an excellent April, but a slugger down south is giving him a run for his money one month into the season.
Off to one of the best starts of his career, the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez has jumped to +210 at FanDuel Sportsbook to dethrone Judge, who is sitting at +140 with the calendar turning to March.
After another big game on Thursday, Alvarez is hitting .356/.462/.737 with 12 home runs, 27 runs batted in, and an MLB-leading 42 hits.
Alvarez has been one of the best hitters in baseball since debuting in 2019, but injuries have prevented him from making a real run at the MVP award, having finished better than 9th in the voting just once.
Judge hasn’t been too bad himself, though.
Heading into the weekend series against the Orioles, Judge is hitting .252/.381/.622 with 12 homers, which matches Alvarez for the most in the majors.
Alvarez’s numbers are looking much sexier, but he’s being dinged by the Astros’ poor start.
Even with the win on Thursday, Houston is in the basement of the AL West at 12-20.
The Yankees, by contrast, are off to a strong 20-11 start and sit atop the AL East.
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While there’s still plenty of time for things to change, no player is anywhere near the level of Judge and Alvarez.
The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (+1000) is the only other player with odds better than 15/1.
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.