Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
The American League MVP race suddenly is worth a discussion, something that wasn’t the case a month or so ago. Here is what happened: teams stopped throwing strikes to Shohei Ohtani, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been molten hot.
So let the debate begin. Just keep it short. Because as great as Guerrero has been, Ohtani has something the Toronto first baseman cannot match: unprecedented greatness. Guerrero is a rarity.