Can Wood and Abrams fight for an MVP?

 Yesterday I said the team was doing as well as it was because they had two MVP candidates in the lineup and everything else followed. Let's see where they stand today 

Wood : .276 / .413 / .551  14 2B, 15 homers, 9 SB (1CS), 46 BBs, 77Ks 

Abrams :  .289 / .381 / .542, 11 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 7 SB (4CS), 25BBs, 47Ks

Let's start with Wood because he's pretty easy.  

In 2024 when Wood broke onto the scene with an impressive half season debut, he was close to perfect at the plate. It's clear he identifies strikes well and, when he can make contact, crushes the ball.  2025 felt like a step back but only because there were two Woods. First half Wood was an MVP candidate as well hitting .278 / .381 / .534 with 24 homers. But he began to peter out with a slump early in June and a more extended one from late June into the ASB. He struck out a bunch more and didn't get the lift on balls that he did in the first half cutting his power. The slump continued right after the break and he didn't get back into form until the last week of the season. Without going into the pitching faced a combination of opponent approach and general tiredness playing his first true full season probably explains some of it.  

This season not much is different than last other than everything he was "one of the best" at he's now "Maybe number one" at. The only thing he continues to have issues with is making contact but this is often the trade-off for power hitters and one you take. 

I don't see any approach reason why Wood can't continue to do what he's doing for longer. You can't change your pitching approach too much because he doesn't chase. If we look at 2025 there was a subtle shift further down and away, which seems counter-intuitive to a guy with his reach who hits the ball away regularly but maybe it worked and we'll probably see something like that again. Still I think the real question is stamina and conditioning. Wood is a big guy and in the traditional tall lanky guy aging into a bigger body. It's a conditioning issue he'll have his whole life. What we want to see is how he, and the new org, try to work through it.  At 23 I think seeing if it's just a young player getting into major league workload is the right move. Normal sized guys have the same issues. But the second half of this season could be telling on this front.  If it is something his body needs to work past it could mean a workload that sits at 140 games a year. But a maybe problem for 2027. For now the question is can he keep doing this and the answer for me is "yes, until proven otherwise" 

 

Abrams is a bit more of a unknown.  While he improved from 2022-2024 becoming a decent major league hitter, last year was a lateral move. He didn't improve and settled in as a guy hitting .260 with little patience and moderate power. Not bad, but certainly nowhere near MVP.  What changed? A lot more walks and better contact.  

The walks appear to be a bit of an him approach change - a bit more grip and rip like Wood - but mostly one from the other teams.  He's facing few pitches in the zone, likely in his settled clean-up role with a kid behind him, pitchers are choosing to face the next guy and Abrams is letting them. When he is getting his pitch he hitting it much better but he's not hitting it harder.  Instead he's hitting them... well right.  Hard and at the right angles for the best hits. But again he's not hitting everything harder.  He hasn't improved his angles all that much in general. This is what you'd expect in a sense. X % harder, X% better means something like X%*X% harder and better. But instead he's just having more of these particular good events. 

That leaves this more of a question and it doesn't help that he has a history of absolutely torrid stretches followed by long stretches of stinking. Hitting this well isn't new for him. Hell he's hit better, though for not as long. Hitting well for multiple months isn't new either - he started last year well.  It's sustaining through a full season that would be new and with no real evidence anything has changed if you gave me a dollar I'd bet on some decent regression here. Guys who hit this well in terms of power usually hit the ball a little harder. The saving grace for Abrams is well he's 25 and at this age you get better sometimes. 

 

If Abrams can't maintain MVP status that doesn't mean he's no good, but it does mean to maintain "maybe best offense in baseball" pace that covers for pretty questionable pitching, the other guys will have to pick things up.  Can they?