Shohei Ohtani is as soon as once more the American League‘s MVP — however whether or not he’ll stick round to defend his trophy subsequent season stays to be seen.
Ohtani, a free agent following the expiration of his contract with the Los Angeles Angels, received the award unanimously Thursday evening over Texas Rangers duo Corey Seager and Marcus Semien — who must make do with their World Collection championship as an alternative.
Ohtani is unprecedented
Ohtani put collectively arguably his greatest season but in 2023. On the plate, he led the AL with 44 residence runs — changing into the primary Japanese participant to take action — and a .412 on-base share. The 29-year-old led all of baseball in slugging share (.654) and on-base plus slugging (1.066). He hit .304, drove in 95 runs, and stole 20 bases in one other dominant marketing campaign.
Till an elbow harm in August that may forestall him from pitching in 2024, Ohtani was having fun with one other nice season on the mound, too. He posted a 10-5 win-loss file with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts throughout 132 innings pitched, largely overcoming the best stroll fee (3.8 batters per 9 innings) of his MLB profession.
The free agent chase heats up
In an uncommon prevalence, Ohtani has received the MVP award once more regardless of not being contracted to any group.
A number of of baseball’s largest spenders — just like the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers — are working to persuade Ohtani to depart Angel Stadium and take a look at his luck elsewhere from subsequent season. It would take much more cash to signal him now, although — Ohtani is the primary participant in baseball historical past to win the MVP award unanimously greater than as soon as.
