Insider Predicts Shohei Ohtani Vs. Kyle Schwarber NL MVP Winner

Who will end up winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award when the 2025 Major League Baseball season comes to an end?

At this point, only two players seem like feasible options. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ohtani is already a three-time MVP and has been unsurprisingly great this year for Los Angeles. In 142 games, he's slashing .280/.391/.611 with 48 home runs, 91 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, 21 doubles, eight triples, and 129 runs scored. He's currently leading the National League in runs scored, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot. He also has a 3.75 ERA in 12 starts for the Dodgers to go along with a 49-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 36 innings pitched.

Schwarber has been phenomenal himself. He's leading the National League with 50 homers and 123 RBIs in 145 games played. The Phillies are also ahead of the Dodgers in the standings right now, which doesn't hurt. But, ESPN's Bradford Doolittle predicted that Ohtani will end up getting the nod this year.

Who will win the race?

Sep 9, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) runs to first base after hitting a RBI single in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Ohtani seems to have a stranglehold on this one, especially since the betting markets favor Schwarber as his leading challenger. Nothing against Schwarber, who is having an epic season, but the metrics don't support that at all," Doolittle said. "Although the leaderboard happily stretches down to Schwarber's spot because of ties, you can see that it's basically Ohtani and everybody else. He combines Schwarber's power in the slugging and homer categories with virtually all of Soto's on-base mastery. Soto is having a shockingly prolific season in the steals category, but given that Ohtani has lapped the field in runs scored, he still wins the baserunning part of the race. And, oh yeah, Ohtani tacks on 36 innings of excellent pitching (2.17 FIP), giving him plenty of defensive value as opposed to the negative fielding metrics of both Soto and Schwarber, primarily a DH.

"On the contextual side, Ohtani leads the NL in win probability added and championship probability added. Soto is second in both categories, and Schwarber is out of the top 10. Again: Advantage Shohei...Prediction: Ohtani in a landslide."

It's pretty hard to argue against that logic.

More MLB: Insider Predicts Aaron Judge Vs. Cal Raleigh AL MVP Winner