The Baseball Writers Association of America awarded Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani with his second consecutive NL MVP. The award was given out Thursday at the MLB Awards Show in Las Vegas. Counting this year, Ohtani has four league MVP’s to his name. He won it twice in the AL and twice in the NL.
Ohtani won the award unanimously for the third time in his career. The Dodgers pitcher and designated hitter joins Barry Bonds as the only player to win the award three years straight. Bonds holds the record with seven. However, Ohtani is 31 and has won the award unanimously each time.
His big moment came after helping the Dodgers win their second consecutive World Series title in seven hard-fought games against the Toronto Blue Jays. During this year’s playoff run, Ohtani hit eight home runs, 14 RBI and three doubles. On the mound, he had 23 strikeouts and 16 walks.
“The biggest thing is obviously being able to win the World Series,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “That’s first and foremost. It’s icing on the cake to get an individual award, but I appreciate the support from all my teammates, everybody around me, and my supporting staff.”
Ohtani Claims Second Consecutive NL MVP
Ohtani was in the running for the award with Juan Soto and Kyle Schwarber, who each hit over 40 home runs. However, their totals weren’t enough to surpass Ohtani, who won his second consecutive NL MVP. He hit 55 home runs, 102 RBI, 25 doubles and nine triples this season.
“It was a great year,” Ohtani added. “I’m very grateful for my teammates and the coaching staff. But not only them, but the fans were the ones who really rooted us on and supported us.”
Ohtani returned to pitching this year after undergoing his second major elbow surgery. However, he used this setback to put up 62 strikeouts in 47 innings across 14 starts. The five-time All-Star has a combined 9.4 FanGraphs WAR, the best in the NL.
“As soon as the season progressed, my shoulder got a lot looser, and things got a lot easier for me, such as getting back into my routine and controlling my time management,” he continued. “Basically, from there on it was smooth sailing.”
Ohtani joins Roger Maris as the only players to win the MVP in their first two seasons with a team. He joins Joe Morgan as the only player to win both an MVP and a World Series in consecutive seasons.
“After I retire and look back at these special years, I can say the fans played a big part in the support,” Ohtani concluded.
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