Awesome gesture from his longtime teammate!
The worst-kept secret around baseball finally became official on Thursday evening when Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani was named the unanimous American League MVP. It is his second MVP award in the last three seasons, and he became the first player in baseball history to win the award twice unanimously.
For the second time in three years, Shohei Ohtani is the American League’s Most Valuable Player!
大谷翔平が二度目のア・リーグMVPを受賞！ pic.twitter.com/z7svbS4DZI
— MLB (@MLB) November 16, 2023
The two-way superstar amazed the baseball world once again, and he has continued to get better each season. It’s possible that he just put together the best year of his career, and we can’t wait to see what comes next for him.
His teammate Mike Trout took to social media to congratulate him on a great season, and Ohtani likely appreciated the gesture. Even though the Angels haven’t found much success on the field, Trout and Ohtani have become close over the years.
Congrats on an epic year and well deserved MVP. Proud of you, brother! pic.twitter.com/oJQlIT7zxZ
— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) November 16, 2023
For the season, Ohtani slashed .305/.412/.654 and had a 1.006 OPS. Ohtani also added 44 home runs and 95 runs batted in before he was forced to miss some time due to an injury at the end of the year.
On the pitching side of things, Ohtani was as good as he ever has been. He recorded an ERA of 3.14 in 23 starts and struck out 167 batters over 132 innings of work.
The two-way superstar was lights out on the mound over his last few starts before he suffered a torn UCL that saw him be shut down as a pitcher. We won’t see Ohtani on the mound until at least 2025 while he recovers from a procedure to repair the UCL.
It remains to be seen where Ohtani will sign for next season since he is a free agent, but it’s expected that he will leave the Angels organization. He is expected to receive the largest contract in MLB history and will have no shortage of suitors for his services this offseason.
