"If Ohtani continues to progress as a pitcher, I'm never going to pick against him" - MLB veteran CC Sabathia picks Shohei Ohtani as current AL MVP over New York Yankees star Aaron Judge

CC Sabathia has made his pick in the American League MVP race. He chose Shohei Ohtani over Aaron Judge. This is a surprising choice because Sabathia spent 11 years with the New York Yankees, Judge's current team. Since he was a pitcher, it makes sense for him to have a greater appreciation for what Ohtani is doing with the Los Angeles Angels.

This discussion that led to Sabathi throwing his support behind the Angels star was posted to Twitter by the R2C2 podcast.

"The Judge vs. The Sho. It’s a two-horse race for AL MVP. Who wins?" - R2C2

The race for the AL MVP this year will be fascinating to follow. Judge and Ohtani are clearly leading the way. Aaron Judge leads the MLB in home runs with a whopping 37 and has the chance to break the Yankees' single-season home run record of 61.

Buster Olney of ESPN posted these projections for Aaron Judge's statistics by the end of the year to Twitter.

"Aaron Judge on pace to finish the season with: 60 homers, 130 runs, 131 RBI, 26 doubles, 170 hits, 76 walks.He's got a slash line of .294/.376/.650" - Buster Olney

Shohei Ohtani picked up right where he left off last year. He is doing things that are only comparable to the great Babe Ruth. Ohtani is a true two-way player, who is an All-Star talent on the pitchers' mound and in the batters' box.

The Score contextualized, via a tweet, just how impressive Ohtani has been this season with some of his absurd statistics.

"Shohei Ohtani's numbers are the definition of 'video game stats'." - theScore

Both of these players are having incredible individual seasons. The race will be tight, but it could come down to which team has more success.

Shohei Ohtani versus Aaron Judge is one of the closest MVP races in recent memory

Tampa Bay Rays v New York Yankees

With an MLB veteran picking Ohtani over Judge for the American League MVP, it could show us how voters are thinking. It would be hard to imagine Judge not winning MVP if he breaks the 61 mark for home runs and his team dominates. This argument was presented by CC Sabathia's co-host Ryan Ruocco.

However, Shohei Ohtani is one of the most unique and gifted players of this generation, maybe even of the last few generations.

Aaron Judge won the last head-to-head matchup against Shohei Ohtani, as seen in this video posted to YouTube by the MLB.

Judge may have bested Ohtani in that at-bat by blasting a home run, but the MVP race is far from settled.

Much like CC Sabathia, we will all be following the American League MVP race to see which of these superstars can outdo the other.