The $700-million man Shohei Ohtani has won the 2024 NL MVP, a few weeks after he won the World Series in his first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, figuring in a five-game demolition of the New York Yankees. Throughout this special season, Ohtani has left no doubt about winning unanimous National League MVP as he played one of the best seasons in MLB history.
With this honor, Ohtani’s historic 50/50 year–hitting 50 homers and stealing 50 bases in one season–has left no doubt about his third MVP, and his first in the NL. The two-way phenom played as the Dodgers’ designated hitter this season, thanks to elbow surgery, so he simply joined Hall of Famer Hank Robinson as the only two players to win MVP in both the National and American Leagues.
Ohtani wins MVP
Meanwhile, Ohtani kept it humble as he reflected on winning MVP.
“I’m just representing the Dodgers,” he said through his interpreter Matt Hidaka, via Anthony Castrovince for the MLB. “It was a complete team effort. I wouldn’t have been able to receive this award if it weren’t for my teammates. If we didn’t play as a team, we wouldn’t have gotten to the playoffs or won the World Series. So I take this as representing a team, receiving this award.”
Moreover, teammates and fans on social media expressed their excitement at Ohtani’s accomplishment.
First, teammate Walker Buehler quoted the Dodgers’ MVP announcement and said the result didn’t surprise him with a simple, “Duh.”