Shohei Ohtani wins well-deserved WBC MVP award

This at-bat against Mike Trout is still giving me the chills. I thought I had seen Shohei Ohtani do it all. Turns out, I was wrong. The Los Angeles Angels superstar put on an absolute show in the World Baseball Classic and willed Team Japan to a victory. Ohtani was dominant on the mound, at the plate, and even on the bases throughout the tournament.

The Angels team sent a lot of players to the WBC and saw a ton of players perform. Patrick Sandoval pitched very well in both of his starts against loaded lineups. Mike Trout came up with some big hits on the big stage. Even Jose Quijada showed his enthusiasm with a couple of big strikeouts throughout the tournament. Nobody could outshine Ohtani.

As a result of his efforts, Ohtani took home the WBC MVP, an award he fully deserved.

Angels star Shohei Ohtani wins WBC MVP after dominant performance

At the plate, Ohtani was one of the best hitters in the entire tournament. He had ten hits in 23 at-bats including a home run, four doubles, nine runs scored, and nine RBI. He even walked 11 times, so he got on base 21 times in 34 plate appearances. He slashed .435/.606/.739 in the WBC.

On the mound, Ohtani allowed two runs on five hits in 9.2 innings pitched. He walked two and struck out 11. He was just by watching and looking at the stats, the most dominant pitcher in the WBC.

Not only were the stats just impossible to wrap my head around, Ohtani also did this.

He threw the fastest pitch, hit the farthest ball, and ran the fastest. How one can do this in one tournament is beyond me.

Not only was Ohtani dominant, he was also clutch. He came in and faced the NL Batting Champ in Jeff McNeil, a former MVP and two-time World Series champion in Mookie Betts, and Mike Trout out of the bullpen in a one-run game with the title on the line doing something he was not accustomed to doing.

Ohtani got the job done and he got the job done by doing something that's happened to Trout only 24 times in his Hall of Fame career.

It was just so awesome to see Ohtani dominate for his country on the big stage. It makes me so excited for the 2023 season and hopeful that the Angels give him (and Mike Trout) the opportunity they deserve so much.