Will Shohei Ohtani (30) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who achieved his first 40 home runs and 40 steals, win the second two major league MVP in Major League history.
Major League Baseball’s official media MLB.com said on the 25th (Korea time), “With 80% of the season underway, it is becoming clearer how the major awards race will unfold. In the two major leagues, Chris Sale (National League, Atlanta) and Tarik Skubal (American League, Detroit) are firmly leading the Cy Young Award. In the rookie of the year race, many young talents are active in both leagues, and there will be a lot to say depending on the results of the remaining month. But MVP? Buckle up,” highlighting the fierce two major league MVP race.
In the American League, Aaron Judge of the Yankees is considered the most likely MVP candidate. Bobby Wit Jr. of the Kansas City Royals is also showing strong performance. According to baseball statistics site FanGraph, Judge posted 9.3 in WAR (contributing to his win over substitute players) to rank No. 1 in the two leagues. Wit Jr. is closely chasing after him with a WAR of 8.8.
Shohei Ohtani is enjoying his best season in batting average with a batting average of 294 (148 hits in 504 times at bat) and 41 home runs, 94 RBIs, 99 runs, 40 steals, and OPS.998 in 127 games. Surprisingly, Ohtani is not ranked first in the WAR. Francisco Lindor (Metz) is ranking first in the National League. Lindor has a WAR of 6.5 and Ohtani has a record of 6.3.
“WAR’s decimal point numbers don’t mean much. That’s why Judge and Wit Jr. have won nine games and Lindor and Ohtani have won six games. So far, we have tied players in both leagues,” MLB.com said, stressing that the MVP race is fierce.
In the American League, Judge is challenging his second career season with 60 home runs, while Wit Jr. is spending the best season ever, showing outstanding performances in both offense and defense. However, the race for MVP in the National League is a little different. As Ohtani is not able to play as a pitcher, there is no outstanding player in the WAR.
“The National League is a little different,” MLB.com said. “Some players have very good seasons, but none of them have the best seasons ever. One of the reasons is that Ohtani only plays designated hitter. A full-time designated hitter has never won MVP. And in August, he unexpectedly posted .198/.258/.519. “
Ohtani became the sixth player in Major League history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. However, 40 home runs and 40 steals do not guarantee MVP. Except for Jose Canseco (then Oakland, then 42 home runs and 40 steals) in 1988, and Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta, 41 home runs and 73 steals) who hit 40 home runs and 70 steals for the first time, all three players (Barry Bonds in 1996, Alex Rodriguez in 1998, and Alfonso Soriano in 2006) did not make it to the top of MVP voting.
“Ohtani seems to be the most promising player,” MLB.com said. “He is spending the season with 40 homers and 40 steals (and by far the best hitter) and Ketel Marte (Arizona) has an ankle injury, and Eli Delacroos (Cincinnati) has the most errors in the league, so it will be difficult to persuade voters that he is a quality shortstop,” it said. “That’s why we’ll see Ohtani and Lindor face off.”
MLB.com explained, “Otani has a much better offense (Otani +52 points, Lindor +27 points), but Lindor is an outstanding shortstop and Ohtani is not defending at all, so Lindor is much more valuable (Lindor +15 points, Ohtani -14 points), so it is balanced by WAR.”
In addition, there is a dark horse in the National League. Marcel Osuna of Atlanta is challenging himself for the Triple Crown with a batting average of 37 homers, 94 RBIs and 80 runs scored and an OPS of .964 in 129 games. Currently, Osuna ranks first in batting average, second in homers and tied for first in RBIs in the National League. If Osuna achieves the Triple Crown, it could be a big variable in the MVP race. Among the 11 Triple Crown seasons of batter except Rodgers Hornsby in 1922, who had 12 Triple Crown appearances and had no MVP vote in the history of Major League Baseball, only Chuck Klein in 1933 (winning by Carl Hubbell, who won two gold medals with 23 wins and 1.66 ERA), Lou Gehrig in 1934 (winning by Dizzie Dean, who won two gold medals with 30 wins and 195 strikeouts), and Ted Williams (1942 and 1947), who were at odds with reporters, were the only ones who failed to win the MVP award. 메이저사이트
Ohtani won the American League MVP award in 2021 and 2023. If he wins the MVP again this year, he will be the second player in the history of the two leagues. Frank Robinson is the only player in the history of the two leagues to win the MVP award. Robinson won the National League MVP in Cincinnati in 1961 and the American League MVP in Baltimore in 1966. If Ohtani wins the MVP award unanimously this year, he will become the first player in the history of the two leagues to win the MVP award.
With dark horse Marcel emerging amid a fierce MVP race with Lindor, fans are paying keen attention to whether Ohtani will be able to win the unanimous MVP award in the two major leagues, which no one has done in major league history.
