Shohei Ohtani’s (29-LA Angels) stellar season, one of the most unprecedented in baseball history, is about to be judged. Once again, he is in the running for Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.

On Sunday, Major League Baseball announced the finalists for the American League (AL) and National League (NL) MVP, Cy Young Award, and Rookie of the Year awards for the 2023 season.

There are three finalists in each category. To build excitement, the organization will select the finalists and reveal them at a later date. Voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) has already concluded.토토사이트

Ohtani is up for the AL MVP award once again in 2021. The Rookie of the Year winner will be revealed on the 14th, the Manager of the Year on the 15th, the Cy Young Award winner on the 16th, and the MVP on the 17th.

The biggest question mark is whether Ohtani will win the second MVP award of his career. After coming up through the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) ranks, Ohtani made his big league debut in 2018 and was touted as the next Babe Ruth, but struggled early on.

He didn’t show much as a pitcher before 2021. He started 2018 as both a pitcher and a hitter before suffering an elbow injury that ended his season as a hitter only. When he returned the following year, it took him a while to get going as a pitcher.

It wasn’t until 2021, his fourth year in the big leagues, that he blossomed. Ohtani’s stellar performance at the plate made him a mainstay of “manga baseball”.

In 158 games as a hitter, he batted .257 with 46 home runs, 100 RBIs, 103 runs scored, and 26 stolen bases, with a .372 on-base percentage, .592 slugging percentage, and a .964 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). As a pitcher, he went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 130⅓ innings in 23 games. He struck out 156 batters.

His failure to reach 10 wins was the only blemish, but no one disputed that Ohtani was the best player in the game, and he was named the AL unanimous MVP.

Perhaps because he didn’t win 10 games as a pitcher, Ohtani regressed a bit as a hitter last year, hitting .273 with 34 home runs and 95 RBIs, but he was one of the league’s best pitchers, going 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts and 166 innings.

It’s been a great 2023 journey. At the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) a season ago, Ohtani hit .435 with one home run, eight RBIs and nine runs scored, and he was just as effective as a pitcher, going 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA in three games. In the final, he pitched Japan’s championship rinse and, as expected, was named MVP.

This season, he looked like the previous two years combined. As a hitter, he had a tremendous home run pace. Despite being hampered by a season-ending injury that limited him to 135 games, he still managed to hit .304, his first career triple-double, 44 home runs, 95 RBIs, 102 runs scored, 20 doubles, and a .412 on-base percentage with a .654 slugging percentage for an OPS of 1.066. While his cumulative stats were a bit disappointing due to the lack of games played, it was a career-high season in terms of percentages. He led the league in home runs and OPS.

As a pitcher, he also shined. Despite a season-ending elbow and lateral soreness that forced him to go down early, Ohtani went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 132 innings over 23 games. He also struck out 167 batters.

He was a major part of the sweeper craze that swept the world of baseball this season, and his fiery fastball added to the mix, making him an instant MLB sensation.

Of course, Ohtani’s competition is no slouch. Shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien, who led the Texas Rangers to their first World Series title in franchise history, are both finalists for AL MVP.

Seager hit .327 with 33 home runs and 96 RBIs and a 1.013 OPS, while Seamian hit .276 with 29 home runs and 100 RBIs and an OPS of .826. While both have had outstanding seasons, it’s hard to top Ohtani on the basis of batting average alone. Ohtani’s 10 wins as a pitcher make him a shoo-in for a second award.

It will be interesting to see if Ohtani can repeat his unanimous MVP performance from two years ago.

In the NL, the MVP finalists are outfielders Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta Braves), Mookie Betts, and first baseman Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers).

Acuña Jr. is the favorite to win the award. In 159 regular-season games, he batted .337 with 41 home runs, 106 RBIs, and a 1.012 OPS, and he also joined the 40 (home runs)-70 (stolen bases) club with an astounding 73 stolen bases. That’s a first in MLB history.

Betts also hit .307 with 39 homers, 107 RBIs, and a .987 OPS, and Freeman hit .331 with 29 homers, 102 RBIs, and a .977 OPS, but it’s hard to see him surpassing Aquino Jr.

The Cy Young Award finalists are Zack Greinke (Arizona Diamondbacks), Blake Snell (San Diego Padres), and Logan Webb (San Francisco Giants) in the NL and Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees), Kevin Gausman (Toronto Blue Jays), and Sonny Gray (Minnesota Twins) in the AL.

The three finalists for Rookie of the Year are Corbin Carroll (Arizona Diamondbacks), James Outman (Los Angeles Dodgers), and Senga Kodai (New York Mets) in the NL, and Tanner Beavey (Cleveland Indians), Tristan Casas (Boston Red Sox), and Gunner Henderson (Baltimore Orioles) in the AL.

The nominees for Manager of the Year were also revealed. Craig Counsell (Milwaukee Brewers), Skip Shumaker (Miami Marlins), and Brian Snitker (Atlanta Braves) are the NL finalists, while Bruce Bochy (Texas Rangers), Kevin Cash (Tampa Bay Rays), and Brandon Hyde (Baltimore Orioles) are the AL finalists.