Ben Verlander faces heavy criticism over his MVP take on Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh

Ben Verlander is known for his direct and often polarizing analysis during the MLB season. He recently leaned heavily toward Cal Raleigh, highlighting the demanding nature of being a catcher and using it to sideline Aaron Judge‘s candidacy.

Verlander’s core argument was evident when he stated, “If you’re putting Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge’s offensive stats side by side you’re missing the entire point.” His commentary suggested that simply comparing offensive metrics ignores the immense effort Raleigh puts in as a catcher, making his job inherently more difficult than Judge’s.

The take was quickly met with pushback. Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports Media criticized the stance on X, writing, “Aaron Judge has had one of the greatest primes in the history of the sport and Ben Verlander would ha