“MLB wants him to win”; “There is no planet where Lindor wins” - MLB fans react to Francisco Lindor’s strong case over Shohei Ohtani for MVP

When it was announced that two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani would not pitch this season while recovering from last September's elbow surgery, some fans expected his hitting to suffer as well. With the season now winding down, Ohtani has objectively blown that theory out of the water.

Despite injuries keeping him off the pitching mound for the season — except for a bullpen session on Aug. 23 — Ohtani has excelled in the batter's box. However, without a defensive standard by which to judge him, the 30-year-old's name hasn't come up often in conversations about the NL MVP Award.

In a piece for SNY published on Aug. 26, writer Danny Abriano claimed that New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor has a better shot at winning the NL MVP Award than Ohtani. While the pair have both been excellent hitters this season, it is safe to say that Abriano's conviction was not exactly popular with fans.

"I say this as a lifelong Mets fan. There is no planet where Lindor wins the MVP over Ohtani. None. I even polled all the other planets in the solar system. They all laughed at me for even asking the question." A fan commented.

"We all know Ohtani is getting it cause you know, MLB wants him to win MVP in both AL and NL," another fan chimed in.

"Ohtani is getting MVP. Folks that vote love the guy, they don’t care he is only a DH, he will get the MVP every single year unless he is hurt missing time," a fan said.

In his piece, Abriano pointed out that Lindor has gone .283/.350/.515 with 27 home runs and 77 RBI since a 1-for-31 slump at the start of the season. Moreover, the Puerto Rican is on track to record his highest OPS since 2019, and his most home runs since 2018.

"He doesn't have any case at all actually," said a fan.

"Shocker, Mets homer thinks Mets player should be mvp." Said another fan.

"MVP SHOHEI!" Exclaimed another.

Shohei Ohtani's numbers in 128 games for the LA Dodgers are superior to Lindor's, and fans realize that. Besides leading the National League in both home runs and runs scored - with 41 and 100 respectively, the Japanese superstar also leads the NL in slugging percentage, OPS and total bases.

"Yeah I love Lindor but I'm not sure why we're trying to minimize what Ohtani is doing," another fan argued.

"Ohtani should finish 1st 2nd and 3rd," came another voice of support.

Shohei Ohtani is considered one of the best in MLB

Alongside New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani is considered to be in a league of his own. As Joel Sherman wrote in an article for the New York Post on Aug. 27:

"Of course, we can recognize that Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are special. But do we also recognize that at one time MLB has two Babe Ruths?"

Francisco Lindor, alongside a great many players, is having a terrific year. However, it might be a leap of historic proportions to catch up with where Ohtani currently is.