Is Yankees' Aaron Judge stumbling out of AL MVP race?

When the

arrived, the sport of baseball belonged to

.


The Yankees were winning, Judge was in the midst of a historic season, Angels star Mike Trout was hurt and the AL-best Astros were led by a group of stars likely to split a MVP vote.

If you were to hand out 2017 AL MVP ballots the night Judge put on a Home Run Derby show, hardware for the Yankees star likely would have been inevitable.

Now--after a tough stretch to start the second half--Vegas no longer sees Judge as the favorite to win the award.

According to Bovada's latest AL MVP odds, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve has leaped ahead of Judge in the race.

Here are the latest odds provided to NJ Advance Media.

Altuve: 1/2

Judge: 8/5

George Springer: 20/1

Carlos Correa: 25/1

Trout: 33/1

Heading into play on August 2, Judge owned a .299/.425/.622 slash line with 34 home runs. Those MVP-caliber numbers--along with good defense in right field--equate to a 5.2 WAR mark.

But those overall statistics overshadow Judge's post-All-Star break slump. Since the start of the second half, Judge has posted a .179/.316/.349 slash line with 4 HR and 27 strikeouts in 79 plate appearances.

With Springer and Correa suffering through injuries and Trout missing so much of the year due to a thumb issue, Judge vs. Altuve could be a one-on-one MVP battle.

As Judge has slumped, Altuve has risen.

The Astros second baseman enters play on August 2 with a .365/.426/.571 slash line. That outrageous performance includes a .412 batting average over his last 65 games. Over Houston's last 21 games, Altuve is hitting .511.

Altuve has been worth 6.1 WAR for Houston.

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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