The team was just two votes away. Despite having an unprecedented 50 homers and 50 steals, the team had to yield the honor to Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees as its Player of the Year. The team will have an opportunity to reverse its assessment. Otani’s performance in the first fall baseball league, which starts from today (June 6), has become more important.
Baseball Digest, a U.S. baseball media outlet, announced the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) Player of the Year on the 5th (Korea Standard Time).
Of the total 24 votes cast, Judge and Ohtani received first-place votes from 12 people each, while Judge received second-place votes from 12 people, while Ohtani received 10 votes.
Judge overtook Ohtani as the best player of the year following Baseball America’s Player of the Year award on the 1st.
Both of them performed brilliantly this season, making it a fact that the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) MVP became a fait accompli. Nevertheless, there has been constant debate over who is the best between the two, and local media are paying keen attention to selecting the best between the two.
It was a difficult season to say which of the two is better, as the joy and sorrow were divided by just two votes in the second place, not the first place vote.
Otani, a “throwing star,” gave up his elbow surgery just ahead of this season and became the designated hitter. He had a batting average of 0.310 (197 hits in 636 at-bats), 54 homers, 130 RBIs, 134 runs and 59 steals, 0.646 on-base plus slugging percentage, and 1.036 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in 159 games. He also ranked first in home runs, runs, RBIs, on-base plus slugging percentage in the NL.
Judge displayed impressive performance. In 158 games, he had a batting average of 0.322 (180 hits in 559 times at bat), 58 homers, 144 RBIs, 122 runs, 133 walks, and on-base percentage of 0.458, 0.701 slugging percentage and OPS of 1.159. He was the AL leader in home runs, RBIs, walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Throughout the two major leagues, Ohtani ranked first overall in runs scored, and Judge ranked first overall in home runs and RBIs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
In terms of batting records, Judge can have a slight advantage and, crucially, Judge contributes to his defense. In terms of his contribution to win (fWAR) over substitute players, Judge ranked first with 11.2 overall, while Ohtani ranked third with 9.1 behind Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals, 10.4).
What gives Otani more points, however, is that he achieved the first 50-50 club in his history. His previous record was 42-42, but Otani rose to 54-54 by far. As he plans to become a pitcher starting next year, chances are high that his record will not come out again. If this record is given more symbolism, Otani can be evaluated better.
It is an evaluation that can be completely different depending on the viewpoint. Therefore, the performance of autumn has become more important. Ohtani will play on the fall baseball stage for the first time since his big league debut.
The Dodgers will clash with the San Diego Padres, who beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 at 9:38 a.m., in the NL Division Series. Attention is focusing on how Ohtani, who has led the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Japan Series, will perform in the first postseason in MLB.
Judge will also start his fall baseball game on the same day. He will meet Kansas City and the ALDS starting at 7:38 a.m. EDT. A head-to-head match between Ohtani and Judge will be possible only if they both advance to the World Series. 안전놀이터
The urgent priority is to defeat the opponent team in front of us. With the main shortstop Kim Ha-sung out and having to play the series due to injury, even ace Joe Musgrove suffered an elbow injury, making it uncertain for SD to play in the rest of the fall baseball games.
Despite this, The Athletic chose San Diego as the winner of the series on Wednesday. According to a survey of 15 reporters from its own company, 12 reporters, or 80 percent, chose San Diego. Only three reporters chose the Dodgers. Even after winning the district championship, the Dodgers ended up being evaluated as an “underdog.”
The key difference was in starting. The Dodgers have a weak starting lineup. Yamamoto Yoshinobu and Jack Flaherty, who returned from injury, are the main players. Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw are out due to injuries, while Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller are sluggish.
“It’s not easy to deal with Otani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, but I’m not afraid of the Padres,” Katie Wu said. “San Diego has the upper hand in starting despite the absence of Musgrove. Dylan Sheath is a proven ace, and Michael King is a rising star. On the other hand, Flaherty of the Dodgers will show his shortcomings in October.”
Keith Roe also had San Diego’s edge. “While no one can be sure of starting pitchers for the Dodgers, the Padres can start the NLDS with Seeds and Darvish Yu,” he said. “We may be able to avoid damage to Musgrove in a five-game short-term game.”
In other words, the Dodgers needs more explosive power in its lineup to win the game. Ohtani’s shoulder has become heavier by far. Under these circumstances, if Ohtani leads the team and leads the Dodgers to victory as he did in the WBC, he may have the upper hand in the evaluation of selecting the best player of this season.
