LOS ANGELES — As the Dodgers host the Yankees for a World Series rematch this weekend, some major award winners will share the field at Chavez Ravine.

 

With Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt on the Yankees and the Dodgers employing Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the series is poised to feature the first games with three MVPs in each batting order, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs. As ESPN’s Buster Olney pointed out, there has been one other game where three MVPs started for both teams — a June 2, 2023 matchup between the Yanks and Dodgers — but one of those players, Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw, won his MVP as a pitcher and didn’t bat in that game.

That game also featured Betts and Freeman on the Dodgers’ side and Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson in the Yankees’ lineup.

Judge, a two-time winner in the American League, is the most recent MVP of the bunch, as he took the award home after producing the greatest season ever by a right-handed hitter last year.

 

The Yankees’ captain is now in the early stages of another MVP bid, as Judge entered the Dodgers series leading the majors in average (.391), OBP (.488), slugging (.739), fWAR (4.7) and wRC+ (239). He was also fourth in home runs (18) and RBI (47).

 

A three-time MVP thanks to his hitting and pitching prowess — elbow surgery has kept him off a big league mound since 2023 — Ohtani is also working on another splendid season at the plate. He was pacing the majors with 20 longballs entering the series while slashing .292/.394/.648 with 35 RBI, 11 stolen bases, a 3.0 fWAR and a 181 wRC+. 

 

Freeman, meanwhile, was leading the National League with a .359 average, a 1.044 OPS and a 185 wRC+ to go along with nine homers, 36 RBI and a 2.5 fWAR. An MVP with Atlanta in 2020, he also earned World Series MVP honors last October after hitting .300 with four home runs — including a walk-off grand slam in Game 1 — against the Yankees. 

 

Betts, an MVP with the Red Sox in 2018, is hitting .254/.338/.405 with eight homers, 31 RBI, a 1.6 fWAR and a 111 wRC+ after a stomach virus and related weight loss hindered him at the start of the season. 

 

Goldschmidt, meanwhile, won his MVP with the Cardinals in 2022, the same year Judge won his first award. The first baseman, 37, has been a bargain after signing a one-year deal with the Yankees over the winter, posting a .347/.404/.495 slash lime with five homers, 27 RBI, a 1.8 fWAR and a 156 wRC+. 

 

Finally, Bellinger won his MVP as a member of the Dodgers in 2019. He was drafted by and debuted with Los Angeles, making this series a bit of a homecoming.

 

Acquired from the Cubs over the winter, the veteran started off slow but was hitting .258/.329/.457 with eight homers, 32 RBI a 1.5 fWAR and a 119 wRC+.