“It’s Otani’s world. The race for second place in the MVP will be tighter.”
“The American League MVP race is over after Shohei Ohtani 카지노(Los Angeles Angels) won the American League Player of the Month award in June and July,” the American media outlet Sporting News said on June 16 (KST).
Sporting News continued, “Ohtani has a huge lead in the MVP race. He could win the award even if the season were to stop right now,” and “Ohtani would be a unanimous MVP with 30 votes.”
Ohtani has been at his best as an “idoryu” this season. In 22 games on the mound, he has a 10-5 record, 130⅔ innings pitched, 50 runs (46 earned), 65 hits, 165 strikeouts, and a 3.17 ERA.
Shohei Ohtani/Getty Images Korea
Shohei Ohtani/Getty Images Korea
At the plate, he’s even better. Ohtani has 134 hits, 41 home runs, 84 RBIs, 91 runs scored, and a .302 batting average with a 1.062 OPS. If he maintains his triple-digit batting average this season, he will become the third Japanese player in the majors with a triple-digit batting average, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.
Sporting News highlighted Ohtani’s WAR (wins above replacement). Ohtani has a bWAR of 9.0 according to Baseball Reference. He leads Marcus Semien (5.5, Texas Rangers) by a wide margin. ”It’s Ohtani’s world. We’re all just spectators,” and that “the competition for second place is much more intense than the competition for first place.”
Shohei Otani/Getty Images Korea
The publication cited five players as possible runners-up for MVP. Semien, Corey Seager (Texas), Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago White Sox), Kyle Tucker (Houston Astros), and Bobby Wiet (Kansas City Royals).
Ohtani made his major league debut in the 2018 season. He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in his rookie season. He then won his first career MVP award in the 2021 season. Last season, he finished second behind Aaron Judge (New York Yankees), who hit 62 home runs, but this season he is one step closer to winning his second career MVP.
Shohei Ohtani/Getty Images Korea
Shohei Ohtani/Getty Images Korea