Shohei Ohtani (30, LA Dodgers) has increased the possibility of a unanimous MVP as he succeeded in his dream of 50 home runs and 50 steals. All eyes are on whether Ohtani, who has already made two unanimous MVP seasons (2021 and 2023) for the first time in the Major League, will achieve another feat.
Ohtani started the Miami Marlins at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida on the 20th (Korea time) as the first and designated hitter in the 2024 regular season of the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) and scored six hits, 10 RBIs (three home runs), two steals and four runs in six at-bats.
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 20-4 thanks to Ohtani's stellar performance. The Los Angeles Dodgers, which recorded 91 wins and 62 losses, confirmed its advance to the postseason for the fourth time among the 30 teams in the Major League this season. It is the first fall baseball season for Ohtani, who has never experienced a postseason since his big league debut in 2018. According to Sarah Lang, a statistical expert in the Major League, Ohtani has never experienced the postseason for the longest period (865 games) among the players registered in the Major League including the injured list.
Ohtani, who had 48 home runs and 49 steals until the previous day (19th), reached a historic 50-50 by drawing three arches and stealing two bases on the day alone. There have been six players who have recorded 40 home runs and 40 steals (40-40) in a season, but only Ohtani has 50-50 in one.
After the game, Ohtani said in an interview with reporters, "I think it will be a day I will never forget," but added, "I'm happy that I made it 50-50, but I also feel relieved. I also have respect for my seniors who set various records earlier," and was even more praised for being humble.
What was even more impressive was Ohtani's lack of improvement. Ohtani stole third base in the top of the first inning for the 50th time this season, but managed to steal 51st base in the top of the second inning with a double steal with two outs and runners on the first and second bases.
He hit his 49th home run with one out in the top of the sixth inning, and his 50th home run with two outs and a third base in the top of the seventh inning, but he did not stop. With two outs and runners on the first and second bases in the top of the ninth inning, Ohtani once again hit a big homer over the middle-right fence. It was his 51st homer for this season. As a result, Ohtani became a player who scored more than 10 RBIs in a single game when there were only 15 players in the Major League. Indeed, fans in the U.S. were ecstatic about his legendary performance.
This raised the possibility of a unanimous MVP award. As recently as April 24 when Ohtani hit 40 to 40 home runs in the game against the Tampa Bay Rays, people were skeptical about Ohtani's possibility of winning the MVP award. The reason was that he is a designated hitter who does not play defense at all. In fact, there has never been a professional designated hitter who won the MVP award in the history of Major League Baseball.
However, Ohtani hit three home runs and 10 RBIs, raising his season's batting average to 0.294 (176 hits in 599 at-bats), 51 home runs, 120 RBIs, 123 runs and 51 steals in 150 games, and an on-base percentage of 0.376 slugging percentage of 0.629 OPS of 1.005.안전놀이터
Naturally, he has placed his name on top of the batting index of the National League. He has closely followed Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, who had overwhelming performance in the Major League (NL) by ranking second in overall score tally (NL), sixth in most hits (NL), first in homers (NL), second in homers (NL), second in RBIs (NL), second in stolen bases (NL), 12th in batting average (NL fifth), and second in slugging percentage (NL first). Noah Camras of Newsweek, an American media outlet that introduced Ohtani's season performance and ranking by category, strongly insisted on his official SNS that Shohei Ohtani should be unanimously named NL MVP.
If Ohtani wins MVP again this year, he will be the first player ever. No player has won three unanimous MVPs, and there has been no unanimous MVP in the two major leagues in the National League and the American League.