Some things in sports don’t have to make sense. The last time Kiké Hernandez was a good regular-season player was probably 2021. Yet, every October, he looks like prime Derek Jeter. I’m done betting against him.Â
Three years ago, Jeremy Peña became the first player to be named the MVP of both the ALCS* and the World Series in the same year. But if the Blue Jays are going to win this, it’s almost certainly going to be ALCS MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leading the charge.
George Springer delivered the haymaker in Game 7, but Guerrero has a 1.440 OPS with six home runs in 11 games this postseason. Toronto has gone 6-1 when he drives in at least one run and 1-3 when he doesn’t. He’ll get a couple more dingers while staking his claim to the title of greatest Blue Jay of all time—before his 14-year, $500 million contract even begins.
*There have been eight instances of NLCS and WS MVP, but it curiously almost never happens for the AL.
Blake Snell has been fantastic all postseason with strong starts in the Wild Card Series (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 9 K), NLDS (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 9 K) and NLCS (8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 K), and he will take the ball in Game 1 on Friday night.
There is no reason to think he’s going to slow down now, especially considering he worked just 61.1 innings during the regular season. And he is on a run similar to Stephen Strasburg in 2019 when he became the last pitcher to win World Series MVP honors.
Let’s not overcomplicate this one, either: Shohei Ohtani is the obvious pick, so why waste it on anyone else?
When last anyone saw him, he was having the best playoff game in history in Game 4 of the NLCS: three home runs at the plate, and 10 strikeouts over six scoreless innings from the mound.
It redeemed what had been a quiet postseason, and you just know he wants to keep it going after he was too hurt to hit like himself in the World Series last year.