MVP poll: Can anyone catch the 2 frontrunners?

MLB’s two MVP Award favorites have created a lot of distance between themselves and everyone else, but these races are far from over.

In our latest MVP poll, each league saw a surging star rise up the ranks to take hold of second place, keeping things interesting in both races with less than seven weeks to go in the regular season.

As usual, MLB.com experts were asked to rank their top five MVP picks in both the American League and National League, based on what's happened so far and what they expect will happen the rest of the season. Players received vote points on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale -- five points for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on, with 45 voters participating. Here are the results.

All stats below are through Sunday.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees (33 first-place votes)
Two years after setting an AL record with 62 homers en route to league MVP honors, Judge is having another epic season. The Yankees slugger currently leads MLB in homers (42), RBIs (106), walks (98) and OPS (1.160), as well as both the FanGraphs (8.3) and Baseball-Reference (8.0) versions of WAR. Another 60-homer campaign and a Triple Crown are both in play for the 32-year-old, who has a 143-point advantage in OPS over the next-closest qualifying hitter.

2. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals (12 first-place votes)
While Witt has been in the MVP conversation all season, his candidacy has really gone into hyperdrive lately. Since the start of July, Witt has dazzled to the tune of a .442 batting average with 10 homers, 33 RBIs and a 1.266 OPS, doing his part to keep the Royals in the mix for an AL Wild Card berth. On the year, Witt leads MLB in batting average (.347), hits (164) and runs scored (100) and ranks second behind Judge in fWAR (8.1) and bWAR (7.6). The multidimensional stud also has 25 steals and is one of the best defensive players in the sport, further bolstering his MVP case.

3. Juan Soto, OF, Yankees
The other half of the Bronx Bombers’ dynamic duo, Soto is second only to his teammate Judge in OPS (1.018) while hitting .304 with 30 homers, 82 RBIs and 95 walks over 115 games this season. He’s taken it up a notch since the All-Star break, too, slashing .337/.441/.709 with seven homers in 21 games. He’d have an impeccable case for the top spot if he wasn’t sharing a lineup with Judge.

4. Gunnar Henderson, SS, Orioles
Henderson only has one homer over 22 games since the All-Star break, causing him to slip a bit in the rankings since our last MVP poll. But despite the recent power outage, the 23-year-old shortstop ranks third in MLB behind Judge and Witt in bWAR (7.3) this year while hitting .290 with 29 home runs, 14 steals, 94 runs scored and a .929 OPS.

5. José Ramírez, 3B, Guardians
A perennial MVP candidate who has finished among the top six in the AL voting five times, Ramírez is putting together another excellent season. The switch-hitter has 31 homers to go with 25 steals, 97 RBIs and 86 runs scored for the AL Central-leading Guardians.

Others receiving votes: Rafael Devers (Red Sox), Jarren Duran (Red Sox), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Yordan Alvarez (Astros), Tarik Skubal (Tigers)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers (37 first-place votes)
Despite not throwing a pitch in 2024, Ohtani has remained a must-see attraction during his first season with the Dodgers. In addition to leading the NL in homers (35) and OPS (1.001), Ohtani has gone 32-for-36 in steal attempts, which puts the superstar slugger on pace to become the sixth member of the 40/40 club. Poised to win his third MVP Award in four years, Ohtani would join Frank Robinson as the only players to earn MVP honors in both the AL and the NL.

2. Ketel Marte, 2B, D-backs (six first-place votes)
Although he’s having a superb season on both sides of the ball, this is the first time Marte has cracked the top five in our MVP poll this year. The switch-hitting second baseman has raised his profile in a big way lately, recording a 1.328 OPS with 11 homers in his past 18 games to fuel Arizona’s leap in the NL Wild Card standings. Overall, Marte has produced 30 homers, a .932 OPS and an NL-leading 6.1 bWAR in 113 games.

3. Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds (two first-place votes)
De La Cruz has done his best to keep the Reds on the fringes of the NL Wild Card race, supplying power (20 homers), speed (59 steals) and defense (12 Outs Above Average). With his next steal, the electric shortstop will become just the fifth player (eighth occurrence) in MLB history to produce 20 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season.

4. Bryce Harper, 1B, Phillies
Starting to get back on track after a lengthy slump coming out of the All-Star break, Harper takes the fourth spot among NL players in our poll. The two-time NL MVP currently ranks fourth in the NL in OPS (.912), with 26 homers and 72 RBIs over 103 games, and he’s been a plus defender in his first season as a full-time first baseman.

5. Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets
With his well-rounded offensive production and outstanding glove work, Lindor has been integral to the Mets’ rebound after a rocky start to the season. Since he moved to the leadoff spot in the batting order full time on May 18, the shortstop has hit .296 with 15 homers, 18 stolen bases and an .881 OPS over 74 games.

Others receiving votes: Marcell Ozuna (Braves), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Jurickson Profar (Padres), Chris Sale (Braves), Kyle Schwarber (Phillies), Trea Turner (Phillies), William Contreras (Brewers), Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers), Matt Chapman (Giants), Paul Skenes (Pirates)