LA Angels: 3 reasons why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron Award

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Shohei Ohtani, LA Angels. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /

Shohei Ohtani of the LA Angels is up for the Hank Aaron Award, and he got my vote.

He needs to get your votes too. He deserves this award.

The best part about this one is that we get to choose, and it’s not up to a bunch of writers.

The Hank Aaron Award is an award given to the best overall offensive player in each league. In the running with ShoTime is Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Aaron Judge, Cedric Mullins, Matt Olson, Salvador Perez, and Jose Ramirez. When analyzing his full skillset as an offensive player, he deserves this.

No. 3 reason why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron award: His wide skillset as an offensive player

We all know hitters like Shohei Ohtani…or do we? We all know hitters who hit .257/.357/.592. We do.

We also all know hitters who can hit that line and also hit 46 home runs. We even know guys with those marks who can even then drive in 100 runs, and score 103 themselves.

But do we know someone who can hit that line, hit that amount of home runs, drive in that many runs, score that many runs, and lead the league with eight triples? Yup, and that’s Ohtani and nobody else.

Now imagine somebody with those numbers at the plate but can also steal 26 bases. Only one who can do that is once again Ohtani; the man crowned as the ‘fastest baserunner in the AL‘ by his peers. The best all-around offensive player is Ohtani.

Shohei Ohtani, LA Angels. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 2 reason why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron award: He’s the fastest baserunner in the AL

Let’s stay on the topic of Shohei Ohtani’s baserunning. Baserunning is one of the most important aspects of the offensive half of this game.

People don’t talk about it enough, but how can somebody stretch a deep single into a double, or stretch a shot to the wall into a triple if they don’t have wheels? Who’s going to turn routine singles into a runner on second by stealing a bag? Who’s going to be able to steal home?

Well, Ohtani does all of the above. He’s the fastest baserunner in baseball, and that adds an extra element to his game. How many times have we seen Ohtani hit infield singles, and advance bases while others are hitting due to his speed?

Nobody on this list’s baserunning impacts a game the way Ohtani’s does, and it’s paid off on the field.

It also even gave the Angels a powerful weapon to come in off the bench on one of his rare off-days. For most of these guys, an off-day was an off-day. For ShoTime, it was another opportunity to find a chance to come in and impact the game.

And even on a team with a Manager who didn’t like to steal a lot of bases this year, Ohtani still swiped 26.

No. 1 reason why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron award: He raked even when the LA Angels didn’t protect him

Shohei Ohtani received no lineup protection from the LA Angels. All of Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Justin Upton were hurt last year. Ohtani’s numbers dipped a little bit at the end of the year, and it’s no coincidence that they dipped as the guys hitting behind him went down.

The lack of hitting behind Ohtani got so bad that everyone just started walking him. He got the Barry Bonds treatment, but somehow even worse.

Over a span of three games at the end of the season, he walked 11 times. Not even Bonds has ever walked that much. In that span, Ohtani walked three times in three consecutive games, which nobody had done since Bonds in one of his seven MVP seasons.

Those walks took away from opportunities to improve his power numbers, yet he still finished second in the AL in slugging percentage and OPS, and third in home runs.

He also wouldn’t be forced to chase as much if he had insurance behind him in the lineup. Nobody in this crop of candidates had to carry a lineup the way Ohtani did.

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He deserves to win this award, and we need to get our votes in.

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No. 3 reason why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron award: His wide skillset as an offensive player

No. 2 reason why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron award: He’s the fastest baserunner in the AL

No. 1 reason why Shohei Ohtani deserves the Hank Aaron award: He raked even when the LA Angels didn’t protect him

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