Well, that settles it.
Whatever fragments of a debate that had been left before are gone now, their remnants blasted away Thursday night during the latest historic performance by one of baseball’s most remarkable players.
Homer by homer, steal by steal, Shohei Ohtani in an unforgettable six-for-six, 10-RBI game cracked three home runs, swiped two bases, clinched the Dodgers’ spot in the postseason and founded the 50-50 club. Its members? Just him.
He is now the only player in major league history to hit more than 50 home runs in the same season he stole more than 50 bases, and he did it in a game where he became the only player to hit three home runs and steal two bases in the same game.
Let there be no more debate. What felt forced before became even sillier during the Dodgers’ 20-4 dismantling of the Marlins. Ohtani is the National League’s MVP. Period.
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And just like his previous two MVPs from the American League during his time with the Angels, this one also should come in unanimous fashion. Yes, even with the usual two-way sensation “only†playing as a designated hitter this season while his throwing arm recovers from surgery. That’s how dynamic and disruptive Ohtani has been in his role during his Dodgers debut.
Before Ohtani’s 51 homers and 51 stolen bases, the closest a player had come to creating the 50-50 club was, well, not really that close. Ronald Acuna Jr., was nine homers shy (41) when he stole 73 bases last season. Alex Rodriguez fell eight homers and four steals shy back in 1998. Ohtani still has time to boost the numbers even higher. The Dodgers have nine more regular-season games to go for him to extend his Dodgers-record homer lead. Before Ohtani, no Dodgers player in the organization’s proud history had hit more than Shawn Green’s 49 during the 2001 season.
Go ahead and prepare another first — besides Ohtani’s first trip to the postseason now that he’s freed from the Angels. We should now all agree he’s earned the right to become the first primary designated hitter to secure MVP honors. He should do so in unanimous fashion, making him the only three-time unanimous MVP among baseball’s small club of 21 unanimous picks. No one else has done it more than once. Absurd? Ohtani.
Look, Francisco Lindor and Marcell Ozuna are having great seasons, but they’re not rewriting baseball record books while leading the NL in slugging percentage (.629) and on-base plus slugging (1.005). Plus a bunch of other stuff, too.
Some, including Hall of Fame designated hitter David Ortiz, have argued Ohtani should suffer the same MVP scrutiny that he and others in his position have faced since the full-time designated hitter arrived to the AL in 1973.
Five times Ortiz finished in in the AL MVP top-five, but he never climbed higher than second in 2005. Ortiz can perhaps fairly suffer from some sour-grape feelings because his performances in the past probably would net him an MVP these days now that the universal DH is in play in both leagues and the distaste of the offense-only hitter fades more annually. What Ortiz can’t argue, though, is that he ever had a regular season like Ohtani.
Ortiz’s single-season best for Wins Above Replacement produced was 6.4 in 2007, when he finished fourth in the AL MVP race behind Rodriguez (9.4) and others. Ohtani’s current WAR of 7.8 (and climbing) leads the NL by an entire run. That shows how good his offense has been. It’s covering for him doing nothing else, and then some. Runs scored, total bases, home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits and intentional walks. He leads the NL in all of them. And he’s second in stolen bases!
In addition to taking into account Ohtani’s unparalleled offensive production and his knack for MVP moments that remind of a college quarterback making plays to clinch the Heisman Trophy, BBWAA voters selected to vote for MVP this season can also give Ohtani points for context. The powerhouse-on-paper Dodgers spent a large chunk of their season missing key players due to injuries; no problem, Othani powered them along while recovering from his own. And then there’s the word in the award itself: Value. Ohtani was the recipient of a staggering 10-year, $700 million contract to join the Dodgers, but the fine print reminds that he’s a $2 million player this year due to the staggering amount of money deferred. Most valuable, indeed.
And let’s not forget, too, where Ohtani’s season started. Against the Cardinals, yes, but beneath a dark cloud of uncertainty. A bombshell investigation into his former translator’s illegal sports betting raised serious questions about what Ohtani knew and how his money got involved.
If you expected MLB to ruthlessly investigate its biggest international star, that makes one of us, but the feds did their own investigation, and they tend to be a lot less interested in protecting baseball’s bottom line.
Ohtani was cleared, and now it’s become crystal clear.
Even when this guy can’t pitch, and he will again soon, he’s an all-time talent unlike any we’ve ever watched.