Japanese baseball superstar Ohtani Shohei received his third Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and his first in the National League.
Ohtani Shohei, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was unanimously voted MVP for the third time, receiving the first 30 votes from members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
The Japanese was unanimously voted the best player in the American League in 2021 and 2023 when he played for the Los Angeles Angels.
This year, he became the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. He is the first designated hitter to win this award.
Ohtani Shohei appeared in 159 of his team’s 162 games, the most games he has ever played in the regular season. He finished the season with a .310 batting average, second highest in the league, 54 home runs and 130 RBIs.
His 59 stolen bases, the second-most in the league, and his 134 runs, the league-high, both broke the old records by a Japanese player set by Suzuki Ichiro.
Ohtani Shohei also won the Hank Aaron Award, which recognizes the best hitter in each league, for the second year in a row. He became the first player in MLB history to win this award in both the American League and the National League.
In the American League, Aaron Judge, who plays for the New York Yankees, also won the MVP title following a unanimous vote. He finished the season with 58 home runs, the most in either league.
