Shohei Ohtani launched a two-run home run in the eighth inning at Wrigley Field on Monday, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Chicago Cubs from beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 in Game 115 of the season, a result that has intensified the National League MVP conversation between Ohtani and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, according to Bleed Cubbie Blue.
Crow-Armstrong was the unquestioned star of the afternoon, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four RBI while serving as the Cubs' designated hitter. Bleed Cubbie Blue's win-probability-added tracking named him the game's Superhero with a .317 WPA score, and his two-run homer in the fourth inning was rated the top offensive play of the entire game at .132. Ohtani's eighth-inning blast, worth .113 in win probability for the Dodgers, was the closest anyone on Los Angeles came to matching him.
Chicago starter Shota Imanaga backed up Crow-Armstrong's bat with five innings of one-run ball, walking nobody and striking out six, earning a .130 WPA score and the game's Hero designation. Shortstop Dansby Swanson chipped in a double for a .104 mark as the Sidekick, while Nico Hoerner's three-hit afternoon narrowly missed the podium at .028, per Bleed Cubbie Blue's scoring.
The Cubs' bullpen nearly squandered the lead. Reliever Caleb Thielbar was tagged as the game's Billy Goat after allowing four runs in just a third of an inning, a -.065 WPA showing. Ryan Zeferjahn surrendered a home run in two-thirds of an inning for a -.059 mark, and left fielder Ian Happ went hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts, rounding out the Goats at -.056. Despite the late shakiness, Chicago held on to improve to what would become a 5-2 homestand with a win in the series finale against Toronto still to come, with David Peterson opposing Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease.
The individual duel between Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong on the field mirrored a broader debate playing out in national media over who deserves the National League Most Valuable Player award. In a column for the Chicago Tribune, columnist Paul Sullivan wrote that Jon Heyman, the national baseball voice for The Score who also works for MLB Network and the New York Post, has become the most prominent skeptic of using wins above replacement, or WAR, to settle the race. Heyman has argued that Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong post similar offensive numbers, but that WAR tilts toward the Cubs outfielder because it rewards his defense and baserunning more heavily than it credits Ohtani's two-way contributions.
Ohtani, a four-time MVP, has continued to pitch this season and currently owns the second-lowest ERA among any pitcher with at least 85 innings thrown, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune noted that particular achievement doesn't move the WAR needle the way Crow-Armstrong's glove work and speed do, a discrepancy that has fueled the Heyman-led pushback against leaning solely on advanced metrics. The Tribune also reported that Ohtani has begun ramping his arm back into pitching shape, a step believed to be aimed at postseason readiness given that the Dodgers do not need his innings to close out the National League West.
Crow-Armstrong's case rests on a well-rounded stat line that the Tribune said includes 30 stolen bases and 26 home runs, putting him on pace to repeat the 30-30 season he had in 2025. The column credited part of his improvement to a newfound willingness to take walks, a part of his game that had previously been a weakness. He is also considered a lock for another Gold Glove, which would be his third consecutive award had he not, in the Tribune's words, been
