LA Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani wins AL MVP

The LA Angels two-way international superstar Shohei Ohtani has reached rarified air once again.

He joins a club of LA Angels Most Valuable Players. The select group includes Don Baylor (1979), Vladimir Guerrero (2004), and Mike Trout (2014, 2016, 2019).

LA Angels' Shohei Ohtani is the first MVP in MLB history to contribute as a hitter and a pitcher. 

Shohei Ohtani led the American League in Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement (8.1), he was 5th in On Base Percentage (.372), 2nd in Slugging Percentage (.592), and 2nd in On Base Plus Slugging (.965).

Ohtani was 8th in Runs Scored (103), tied for 4th in Total Bases (318), and had the wheels to lead the league in Triples (8). He's the fastest baserunner in the AL, and stole 26 bases to finish 5th in the American League.

Ohtani was so dominant offensively and feared that he was getting walked even more than Barry Bonds.

He was 1st in bases on balls (96) and the AL leader in intentional walks (20) due to his terrifying power. Finishing 3rd in home runs with 46 tanks, he smacked 80 extra-base hits (2nd in AL) and led the American League with just 11.7 AB per HR. It makes sense as to why everyone wanted to just walk him and move on.

Finishing 2nd in Adjusted OPS+ (158), he was the ultimate, complete, offensive weapon.

ShoTime was an outstanding hitter, not only in situational instances, but dominant when his team needed it most. He exhibited a unique blend of power and speed. 

If that wasn’t exemplary enough, Ohtani was also outstanding on the bump.

10th in fWAR for AL Pitchers (3) and 3rd in Earned Run Average (3.18), his 9 wins lead the LA Angels staff and so did his 130.1 innings pitched. He also led the team with 156 strikeouts. His WHIP of 1.09 led starting pitchers on the club as well. 

Bonds had better offensive seasons. Randy Johnson had better pitching seasons. But, combined, Ohtani had arguably the greatest season in Major League Baseball history. Most valuable indeed.