WAR for AL MVP: Tracking Mike Trout, Aaron Judge in battle for baseball’s top award

MLB’s MVPs are almost always among the league leaders in the wins above replacement (WAR) stat, which attempts to gauge a player’s overall contribution to his team’s success. To almost no one’s surprise, perennial WAR-horse Mike Trout is again leading the pack going into the 2018 All Star break.

Trout has fallen just off the pace to challenge Babe Ruth for the greatest single-season performance in history. The Sultan of Swat compiled 14.1 wins above replacement in the 1923 season.

UPDATED July 16, 2018

Despite missing 45 games due to a thumb injury last year, Trout still managed to finish 5th in American League WAR. Now, fully recovered, no one will be surprised if he finishes atop both leagues in the stat for the fourth time of his still young career. The 7-time All-Star is currently the MLB leader in bases on balls and on-base percentage.

2018 Season

New York Yankees slugging-sensation Aaron Judge finished third in WAR last season while winning the Rookie of the Year award. He’s in the thick of things again in 2018, currently sitting in 5th place.

2018 Season

Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts finished sixth in the AL MVP voting last year, and second the year before that. At the time of his abdominal injury in May, Betts led the league in runs, hits, batting average, slugging percentage and total bases.

2018 Season

Building upon an last year’s excellent production, Indians infielder Jose Ramirez currently leads the league in home runs and is in second place in the American League with 6.6 WAR, nearly matching his career high of 6.9 in 2017 with half the season remaining.

2018 Season

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve led all players in WAR last year on way to being named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. He started the season a bit off last year’s pace, but a hot start to the summer has put him right back in the thick of things.

2018 Season