Shohei Ohtani ’s latest season was defined long before Thursday night, the night the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar won his third Most Valuable Player Award in unanimous fashion and became just the second player — along with Frank Robinson — to earn the honor in both leagues. Ohtani authored one of the finest individual performances in baseball history, slugging 54 home runs and swiping 59 bases to become the first-ever member of baseball’s 50-50 club while hitting .310 with a National League-leading 1.
036 OPS. Despite exclusively appearing as a designated hitter and not playing the field, the 30-year-old won out against New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor , who had an .844 OPS while hitting 33 home runs and stealing 29 bases.
Ohtani outproduced him by both Baseball-Reference (9.2 to 7.0) and FanGraphs’ (9.
1 to 7.8) formulas for wins above replacement. Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was as an MVP finalist for the first time, with 36 home runs and a .
932 OPS in 136 games. Advertisement Ohtani earned all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on his way to 420 points. Lindor finished second with 23 second-place votes and 263 points, while Marte finished third with five second-place votes and 229 points.
Ohtani’s first season as a Dodger was full of upheaval. He had to endure a recovery from a second elbow ligament reconstruction, which limited him only to hitting. A flood of life circumstances — from joining h.