Trout and Ohtani snubbed from Players Choice Awards

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani were finalists for three different MLB Players Choice Awards. These Los Angeles Angels superstars ended up losing out on all three awards.

Both Trout and Ohtani had outstanding years offensively and on the mound. They should both be in the top five in the MVP balloting with Ohtani finishing in the top three.

Ohtani took the hardware last season but this season there seems to be a new face of the MLB in 2022.

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani did not win any MLB Players Choice Awards.

Mike Trout was a finalist for the AL Comeback Player of the Year award. The one thing that has been frustrating in regards to Mike Trout has been his inability to stay on the field. The 31 year old has struggled to stay healthy for the last couple of seasons which is only annoying because I want to be able to watch this future Hall of Famer every night.

After playing in 53 of the 60 possible games in the 2020 season, Trout played in just 36 games in 2021 out of a possible 162. Even this season, Trout played in 119 games and missed a little over a month with injury.

Despite missing 43 games, Trout slashed .283/.369/.630 with 40 home runs and 80 RBI. Trout hit 40 home runs while not even having enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. He would've shattered his career high of 45 long balls if he could've stayed healthy.

Even with the injuries, he was one of the best players in the American League. He lost this award to Justin Verlander who is probably going to win the Cy Young Award after making just one start in the previous two seasons.

Ohtani was a finalist for two awards, the AL's most outstanding player and MLB Player of the Year. Shohei deserves to be a finalist for both of those awards as he was unbelievable at the plate and even better on the mound.

Ohtani slashed .273/.356/.519 with 34 home runs and 95 RBI. As a pitcher, Ohtani made 28 starts and threw a career-high 166 innings. He went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA, striking out 11.9/9 which led the American League while walking just 2.3/9. Ohtani has a great shot at being a finalist for the Cy Young Award.

Ohtani lost both of the awards he was a finalist in to Aaron Judge who is the likely MVP winner in the AL. In just about any other season Ohtani wins those awards but Judge deserved it with his 62 home run season. Ohtani in my opinion was even better than he was in his MVP year because of how elite he was on the mound.

Shohei will see a lot of Silver Medals this year but next season expect him to be right back in the running for any award in the AL.