Shohei Ohtani had been quiet this postseason, not that anyone will remember that after what he did his last time out. Ohtani arguably produced the greatest game in baseball history in Game 4 of the NLCS, so, of course, he’s favored to win World Series MVP.

Ohtani’s three home runs as a hitter, combined with six shutout innings that featured 10 strikeouts and only two hits allowed, is one for baseball lore. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar was likely to be favored to win World Series MVP before that, but there’s too much buzz around him for anyone else to come close before the Fall Classic starts on Friday.

Ohtani is +165 to win the award on BetMGM. That gives him an implied probability of about 37 percent of winning the World Series MVP.

It would take a brave person to bet against Ohtani, given the recent hype around him. However, he’s still just hitting .220 this postseason. Granted, powered by that pennant-clinching dominance, he still has five home runs in 10 playoff games and a strong .967 OPS.

The Dodgers are clear favorites to win the World Series (at -220), so Dodgers players are generally higher up the odds board than most of Toronto. However, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer, who won MVP in 2017 with Houston, are next in line after Ohtani. Guerrero is +600 and Springer is +1000. A run of Dodgers follow: Freddie Freeman (+1300), Teoscar Hernandez (+1600) and Mookie Betts (+1800).

Freeman won it last year. Ohtani hasn’t won it yet.

There’s no debate about whether or not Ohtani should be the favorite to win World Series MVP before the series starts, but will he actually do it? While he is the favorite by a solid margin, his odds still say the field is more likely to win it.

Since 2002, only five favorites to win World Series MVP before the start of the series ended up winning it: Manny Ramirez with Boston in 2004, Cole Hamels with Philadelphia in 2008, David Ortiz with Boston in 2013, Madison Bumgarner with San Francisco in 2014 and Corey Seager with Texas in 2023.

There are some random winners that showcase how unpredictable it can be. Steve Pearce won it with Boston in 2018 at 35 years old, near the end of a 13-year career that featured only 91 home runs, but he had three blasts in that World Series. Jorge Soler was World Series MVP in 2021 before he had ever been an All-Star. David Eckstein had a .694 OPS in 2006, but then hit .364 in the World Series to win MVP for St. Louis. David Freese had a solid 11-year career, but was only an all-star once (2012) and won World Series MVP in 2011.

The point is, it’s not that rare for someone in the supporting cast to step up and get hot for a few games and win World Series MVP. Will that be the case this year, or will Shohei-mania continue?

Game 1 starts Friday in Los Angeles.