Contemporary off of profitable the primary World Collection of his profession, Shohei Ohtani was unanimously voted because the 2024 Nationwide League MVP.
It’s the first time anybody has gained the award as a delegated hitter.
That is Ohtani’s third time profitable MVP (all unanimously) and the primary time within the Nationwide League. Ohtani is the second participant to win the award in each leagues, becoming a member of Frank Robinson.
Ohtani grew to become the fifteenth MVP in Dodgers franchise historical past and the primary since Cody Bellinger in 2019.
It was an entire crew effort, I would not have been in a position to obtain this award if it weren’t for my teammates,” Ohtani mentioned after profitable the award. “I am receiving this award as representing the crew.”
When Ohtani signed his mega $700M contract final offseason, he was coming off a serious arm surgical procedure for the second time in his MLB profession. Whereas he couldn’t pitch in 2024, he might nonetheless play as a delegated hitter.
There have been some considerations as to how a lot worth Ohtani might convey as a DH-only participant. He silenced these considerations by placing up the perfect offensive season of his profession.
In his first 12 months in Los Angeles, Ohtani helped lead the Dodgers to the playoffs whereas hitting .310/.390/1.036 with an OPS+ of 190. He additionally led the Nationwide League in house runs, RBI, on-base proportion and slugging proportion whereas hitting leadoff for a lot of the season.
Ohtani shattered a number of Dodger and MLB data en path to changing into the MVP.
He broke the franchise report for many house runs in a single season whereas concurrently changing into the first-ever participant in historical past to have a 50/50 season.
He did all of this whereas recovering from surgical procedure that may have pressured some other participant to overlook the season.
Ohtani profitable MVP is a tremendous finish to what was an unreal first 12 months with the Dodgers. When he returns to the mound in 2025, there isn’t a telling what different data he might break.
