Why Shohei Ohtani Is Undoubtedly The MVP - Asian Baseballers

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Thursday, November 21, 2024

Why Shohei Ohtani Is Undoubtedly The MVP

 

 

Mural of Shohei Ohtani

 





With hours away from the announcement of the National League MVP, in which I believe Shohei Ohtani will be the shoo-in favorite, it is not improbable that Francisco Lindor could be voted in; however, the season Shohei Ohtani has had has made it practically impossible to give the award to someone else. How could you not pick Shohei over anybody? 




Shohei Ohtani not only became the founding member of the 50/50 club, a season in which a single player produced 50 stolen bases and hit 50 homers, he exceeded all expectations. There’s really no way of describing the kind of season he had. It is almost impossible to justify giving the award to someone else.

 

He has already collected several awards this off-season, including the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award named after the great Edgar Martinez, the Hank Aaron Award, and then, as expected, the NL League MVP award. 


As just a designated hitter, Shohei leads the National League in bWAR with 9.2. He leads the league in runs scored with 134, RBIs with 130, homers with 54, on-base percentage (.390), OPS (1.036), and slugging percentage at .646. 


With this in mind, it is almost impossible to justify giving the award to someone else. Other designated hitters have had great seasons, but what Shohei did in 2024 was worthy of an MVP. 


Many people don’t know the WPA, a stat that is not often brought up or discussed, but Shohei Ohtani also leads the entire MLB in Win Percentage Added at 7%, which should not be confused with Wins Above Replacement (WAR). The WPA is the percentage he adds when he is playing. It bests Aaron Judge’s WPA by a full percentage. 


It is very possible that without Shohei Ohtani’s added value to the team in terms of winning, the Dodgers would have missed the playoffs because they would have fallen below the qualified playoff spot with 12 less wins. He had to have a historic September to stave off the San Diego Padres from winning the division. 




Many people will shrug off his World Series performance as forgettable, but we now know that his injury was indeed that serious. He should not have played at all. But, for some reason, he mustered it up and finished the series. It may have saved him from further damaging his shoulder when the series ended in game 5 rather than going through 6 or 7 games. That error-filled 5th inning by the Yankees may have been for the betterment of Shohei’s health. It’s hard to come to that conclusion, but practically, that’s what it did. Who knows what would have happened to that injured shoulder after a game or two more to play?


The most important game in the playoffs was Game 1 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres. Bottom of the 2nd inning with the San Diego Padres leading by 3 runs, Shohei hit a 3-run homer off Dylan Cease, a homer that had been forgotten since it was early in the Dodgers’ playoff run. But, down to its core, without that homer, with the Padres leading after the top of the first inning, which seemingly confirmed that the Padres were the better team, Shohei hit the most important homer in the playoffs. It not only shifted the momentum; it also saved the Dodgers’ season. Without that homer, the Padres could have very well won that game 5-4. With the shift in momentum and with his 3-run blast, his team inked a victory by the score of 7-5. We all know what happened in games 2 and 3. The Padres won those games. In game 2, the Padres pounced on the Dodgers 10-2. In game 3, even with the comeback attempt, the Dodgers lost game 3 by the score of 5-6. This inevitably means that the Dodgers would have gotten swept by the Padres without that crucial homer by the MVP favorite.


There is no doubt Shohei Ohtani is the runaway MVP of the National League in 2024, and it would be very difficult for any writer, owner, or sports commentator to justify why he is not. Without a doubt, Shohei Ohtani is the NL MVP.

 

 


 

 

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