Shohei Ohtani continues to do what no other baseball player has ever done.
The Dodgers superstar won a unanimous National League Most Valuable Player award on Thursday, becoming the first full-time designated hitter to take home the hardware.
In his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani became the first major leaguer to have a 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, Ohtani’s 54 homers were the best in the NL, and his 59 stolen bases ranked second in the MLB.
Shohei was also second in the NL with a .310 batting average, and he led the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.
This is the third MVP award for Ohtani, who was named AL MVP twice when he was in town with the Angels.
The difference is Ohtani was pitching and hitting back then… and this year he was limited to being a DH as he recovered from offseason surgery on his elbow.
Just goes to show how dominant Ohtani was in 2024 … and how different he was for the Dodgers, who finished with the best record in MLB and ultimately won the World Series.
With the win, Ohtani joins the Hall of Fame Frank Robinson as the only players to earn MVP in both the AL and NL.He is also the first player to win the award unanimously three times.