2022 NL MVP odds: Paul Goldschmidt overtakes Mookie Betts as betting favorite

Last week we told you that the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge had become the new betting favorite at Caesars Sportsbook for American League MVP. There has also been a change atop the National League board in the past 24 hours or so. The St. Louis Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt has overtaken the Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts. Goldschmidt is priced +240. He has never won the MVP but arguably should have in 2013 when he led the NL in homers and RBI while with Arizona, but finished second to Andrew McCutchen.

Goldschmidt had an absurd month of May where he hit .404 to lead the NL and his 1.288 OPS was the best in the majors. His 10 home runs during the month ranked second in the NL behind Betts, and his 33 RBIs were the most in MLB. That earned Goldschmidt NL Player of the Month honors. The 34-year-old has kept it going in June with three straight multi-hit games, a .340 average, five homers and 13 RBIs. He has homered in three straight games and Tuesday became the fifth Cardinal in the last 70 years to hit three homers in a doubleheader.

Goldschmidt leads the NL in batting (.349), hits (81) and on-base percentage (.431) while ranking third in RBIs (56) and third in homers (16). His .444 average with runners in scoring position is second and the best by a Cardinal since Allen Craig (.454) in 2013.

St. Louis hosts Pittsburgh again tonight and Goldschmidt has just killed the Pirates this year, hitting safely in all eight games against them (13-for-28, .536, 5 HR, 11 RBI). He doesn't have an official at-bat against tonight's Pittsburgh starter Roansy Contreras, but has drawn a walk off of him. Goldschmidt is the overall favorite to homer in the game at +270.

It's actually a pretty important night for St. Louis as ace Jack Flaherty will make his season debut. Flaherty has been sidelined by a right shoulder ailment and had a platelet-rich-plasma injection in his shoulder in early March to combat inflammation. He was 9-2 last year with a 3.22 ERA in 78.1 innings.

Betts is now +350 for NL MVP followed by the Padres' Manny Machado (+500), the Phillies' Bryce Harper (+850) and the Mets' Pete Alonso (+900). Betts could become the second player to win MVP in both leagues, joining Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson. Harper has won NL MVP twice, including last year. 

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