CONGRATULATIONS! Shohei Ohtani is Named Winner of the 2024 National League MVP Award amid Controversial Claims from Rivals…See Details

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for his first National League Most Valuable Player award after winning the American League honor twice, along with New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte among the top three in National League voting.

Ohtani was unanimously voted the American League Most Valuable Player in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second behind Aaron Judge in the 2022 voting. He did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers.

Ohtani would join Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the Most Valuable Player award in both leagues.

The two-way Japanese player hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the National League with 54 home runs and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more home runs and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers win the World Series title, playing the last three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. With these numbers he would become the first primary designated hitter to win a Most Valuable Player award.

Ohtani would join a select MVP club

Ohtani would become the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).

Lindor hit .273 with 33 home runs, 91 RBIs and 29 steals, while Marte hit .292 with 36 home runs and 95 RBIs.

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates is a finalist in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award and the National League Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher becomes the fifth rookie to finish in the top three in Cy Young Award voting, after Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Jose Fernandez (2013). The only one to win both titles in the same year was Valenzuela in the National League.

Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies are finalists for the National League Cy Young Award along with Skenes, who made his Major League Baseball debut on May 11 and went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, striking out 170 in 133 innings.