Angels’ Shohei Ohtani named AL MVP, Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. wins in NL

Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna Jr. were each named their respective leagues’ Most Valuable Players unanimously on Thursday, an unprecedented event in the award’s 92-year history.

Ohtani, an exciting free agent who is coming off another historic two-way season, also became the first player to win the award unanimously twice, having done so in 2021. Corey Seager and Marcus Semien , the star infielders of the Texas Rangers, finished second and third, respectively, in the American League.

Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America even though he did not pitch for most of the final two months of the Los Angeles Angels’ season.

He celebrated by praising a puppy who sat on his lap throughout the proceedings.

“Obviously I wanted to win it last year, but [Aaron] Judge had a spectacular season and rightly so, he won it,” Ohtani, through an interpreter, told MLB Network shortly after Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson announced him as the AL MVP. So I wanted to come back stronger and try to win it this year, and I know my rivals, Semien, Seager, they had great seasons and I congratulate them for winning the World Series. I think it’s great. My goal was to try and come out on top, and this rewards all my hard work. »

Acuna, the dynamic right fielder for the Atlanta Braves, won his first National League MVP award, beating Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who came in second out of 30 ballots.

A force at the top of a fearsome Braves lineup, Acuna combined for 41 home runs with an NL-leading 73 stolen bases, easily becoming the first member of the 40-70 club. The 25-year-old also led the National League in on-base percentage (.416), OPS (1.012), hits (217) and runs scored (149). His batting average of .337 was behind only Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez’s .354 for the major league lead.

Ohtani, 29, led the major leagues with 9.0 FanGraphs wins above replacement (2.4 as a pitcher, 6.6 as an offensive player). He slashed .304/.412/.654 in 599 plate appearances as a hitter, leading the AL in home runs (44) and the majors in OPS (1.066) while adding 20 stolen bases. In 23 starts, Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA, striking out 167 batters and issuing 55 walks in 132 innings.

Acuna did not attend his scheduled conference call with BBWAA members because he made his debut for the Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan winter league shortly after claiming the award. The game was pushed back an hour to accommodate the announcement.

Ohtani, who has not spoken to the media since Aug. 9, was also not in attendance, adding to the mystery of his widely speculated pending free agency.

He arrived stateside with much fanfare surrounding his two-way prowess in the winter of 2017, choosing the Angels after attracting interest from virtually every team. But his first three years were hampered by Tommy John surgery, knee surgery and a shortened season because of COVID-19, limiting him to serving primarily as a designated hitter.

However, as of 2021, Ohtani has performed simultaneously at an elite level as a pitcher and hitter, becoming the first to do so since Babe Ruth’s brief attempt at a dual role about a century ago .

Ohtani won the AL MVP unanimously in 2021, then finished second following Judge’s record-breaking home run season in 2022 before winning the honor again in 2023. Overall, Ohtani hit .277/.379/. 585 with 124 home runs, 290 RBIs and 57 stolen bases from 2021 to 2023, but he also won 34 games, posted a 2.84 ERA and struck out 542 batters in 428⅓ innings as a pitcher.

Ohtani learned he had torn his ulnar collateral ligament on August 23, but he continued hitting for nearly two more weeks until an oblique strain finally forced him to call it quits. On September 19, Ohtani underwent what is considered a hybrid version of another Tommy John surgery.

In a statement, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the orthopedic surgeon who performed the procedure, wrote that Ohtani would be ready to hit at the start of the 2024 season and return to a two-way role by 2025.

Questions once again surround Ohtani’s pursuit of the role, but industry executives still expect him to land a free agent contract that tops $500 million – uncharted territory for a North American professional athlete.

“As far as rehab goes, it’s going really well so far, it’s going really well,” Ohtani said in response to one of two questions he posed to MLB Network. “I feel much better and faster than the first time I had this surgery. But at the same time, I can’t rush. I have to take everything slowly and take all the right steps. My plan is to come back strong next time. year.”

Acuna won the NL Rookie of the Year award during his age-20 season in 2018 – Ohtani won the AL version that year – and finished fifth in NL MVP voting during his season at 21 in 2019, clearly establishing himself as one of the sport’s most dynamic forces. But he suffered a torn ACL midway through the 2021 season, forcing him to simply watch from the dugout as his Braves teammates won a championship later that fall. The following year, he was certainly no longer himself. The explosiveness that helped elevate him to stardom was lacking. His timing in the batter’s box was poor.

Acuna spent the ensuing offseason working diligently on his conditioning and trained with Fernando Tatis Sr., father of his good friend Fernando Tatis Jr., to lower his hands slightly to smooth out some of the moving parts of his swing and swing his bat through the zone. faster. During baseball’s six-month regular season, Acuna’s OPS never fell below .900.

Acuna’s stolen base total was helped by new rules that introduced a pitch clock, increased the size of the bases, and limited the number of pitcher outs, but he hit 13 more home runs than the next-most player. close to 70 stolen bases and stole 27 more bases. than the player closest to 40 home runs.

“I don’t know what to say, just super excited, happy,” Acuna, surrounded by family and friends in his native Venezuela, told MLB Network in Spanish. “I hope that, by the grace of God, I can have an even better year next year than the one I just had.”