Shohei Ohtani’s second season as a National League star finished exactly the way his first one did. He walked away with another MVP trophy and another unanimous vote that left no room for debate. The Los Angeles Dodgers brought him to the senior circuit expecting fireworks. What they got instead was domination.
Voters awarded him all 30 first-place votes after a campaign that combined elite power, patience and a return to pitching that looked remarkably close to his pre-injury form.
His .282batting average was strong, but the combination of a .392on-base percentage, a .622 slugging percentage and 55 home runs separated him from every other hitter in the National League.
Once he stepped back onto the mound in June, he delivered a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts across 47 innings. FanGraphs credited him with 9.4 WAR, which ranked second in all of baseball.
Only one player finished ahead of him. That player was Aaron Judge.
A New MVP Fight Takes Over the American League
The National League race felt settled early, but the American League became home to one of the most heated MVP battles of the past decade. Fans and analysts spent months debating whether Aaron Judge’s all-around excellence would hold off Cal Raleigh’s record-breaking power.
The final vote was incredibly tight. Judge secured 17 first-place votes and 355 total points from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Raleigh finished with 13 first-place votes and 335 points after delivering one of the most explosive seasons a catcher has ever recorded.
Judge rarely needs extra hype to stand out. His .331 average earned him the AL batting title. His 53 home runs made him only the fourth player in history with four seasons of at least 50. He led MLB in OPS with a 1.144 mark, topped the league with a 204 wRC+ and finished as the only player with double-digit WAR at 10.1 according to FanGraphs. Reporters across ESPN, MLB.com and The Athletic openly debated whether this was the best version of Judge the sport has seen.
Raleigh’s 60 home runs forced the conversation to stay close. He became only the seventh player in MLB history to reach that milestone and shattered multiple records for power from the catcher position. His season demanded attention and pushed the MVP race into the final week.
In the end, Judge joined Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle as Yankees with at least three MVP awards. Ohtani added his fourth MVP overall and his second since joining the NL. Both superstars once again proved why they continue to define the era and why the league cannot look away whenever they step onto the field.
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