Juan Soto has his sights set on his first MVP Award. There's just one problem: Shohei Ohtani.
The race for National League MVP honors runs through the Dodgers’ two-way superstar, who won the Award unanimously in each of his first two years with Los Angeles and is set to be fully unleashed on the mound for the first time since his 2023 elbow surgery.
Soto knows what kind of challenge Ohtani poses. But he isn’t fazed. The Mets outfielder, after all, is no ordinary challenger, and he’s determined to make Ohtani’s quest for his third straight NL MVP (and fifth MVP overall) as difficult as possible.
“He better keep doing what he’s doing, because I’m coming,” Soto said Monday.
So how does Soto get it done? Assuming Ohtani stays healthy and continues his historic run, here’s what Soto will likely need to do to capture the NL MVP in 2026.
Avoid a slow start
Unlike Ohtani, Soto won’t be able to bolster his MVP case on the mound, so he’ll need to outproduce his counterpart on offense to have any real chance at the Award. He didn’t do that in 2025.
Ohtani recorded 7.5 WAR (per FanGraphs) as a position player last season, with 55 homers and a 172 wRC+. Soto, meanwhile, had 43 homers, a 156 wRC+ and 5.8 fWAR.
However, it's important to note that Soto didn’t look like himself early in the season, producing just eight homers, a 112 wRC+ and 0.6 fWAR over 55 games through May 29. After that? He was arguably the NL’s top position player.
- First with 5.2 fWAR
- Tied for second with 35 homers
- First with 31 steals
- First among qualifiers with a 179 wRC+
If Soto can sustain that pace over a full season in 2026, the NL MVP race gets a lot more interesting.
Keep on running
One of last season’s biggest surprises was Soto’s sudden emergence as a baserunning threat. His single-season high in stolen bases entering last season was 12, but he ended up tying for the NL lead with 38 steals while getting caught just four times.
After his unprecedented 50-50 campaign while serving as a full-time DH in 2024, Ohtani was far less aggressive on the bases last season, swiping 20 bags on 26 attempts. As long as he’s pulling two-way duty, that’s likely to remain the norm, which makes basestealing an area Soto where can gain a clear edge.
Soto isn't a speedster, but his elite on-base skills give him ample opportunity to steal bases. He proved last season that he can pick his spots effectively. Now he needs to keep it up -- and maybe even raise the bar (like, say, becoming the seventh member of the 40-40 club).
Improve his defense
Defense is another area where Soto can separate himself from Ohtani, but that’s easier said than done.
Soto has been one of baseball’s worst defensive right fielders going back to his rookie season in 2018, and he tied for last at the position with -12 Outs Above Average a year ago. The Mets are moving him to left field this season, but he hasn’t been a good defender there, either (career -9 OAA).
That said, Soto doesn’t have to become a Gold Glove-caliber fielder to bolster his MVP chances. He just needs to improve enough that his defense isn’t such a glaring liability in the eyes of voters.
Soto, to his credit, has acknowledged the need to get better on defense, and his comments suggest he's treating it as a genuine priority rather than a talking point.
"Defense is going to become a cornerstone of my development in the coming years," he said in a January interview. "People think there's nothing left to do, but the pride of a true baseball player is to keep showing something new, something different, in comparison to the rest."
Win the NL East
MVP voters have rewarded players from non-playoff teams before, and Wild Card clubs have produced their share of winners, too.
But Soto is going to need every edge he can find to dethrone Ohtani, and leading the Mets to their first division crown in more than a decade would be a powerful kicker.
Of course, whether the Mets can capture the NL East crown will depend on a lot more than how Soto performs. But if they can pull it off, overcoming the Phillies and Braves in the process, it would only strengthen Soto's case with voters.