MLB awards power rankings: Shohei Ohtani’s historic year has him primed for AL MVP honor
With just more than a month remaining in Major League Baseball’s regular season, there’s very little USA TODAY Sports’ power ranking voters agree on regarding postseason awards.
Here’s one of them: This is Shohei Ohtani’s year.
Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way star putting together an unprecedented season, was a unanimous choice for American League Most Valuable Player in balloting conducted by our seven-person panel.
While Ohtani’s Angels are just about out of playoff contention, his dominance at the plate and on the mound is too overwhelming to ignore. Ohtani leads the major leagues with 41 home runs and his .986 OPS ranks fourth. His 20 stolen bases make him the first player since Curtis Granderson in 2013 to produce a 40-homer, 20-steal season.
And then there’s his pitching: 127 strikeouts in 105 innings, a 3.00 ERA, an adjusted ERA of 153 and an 8-1 record.
Ohtani the hitter’s 4.4 Wins Above Replacement is tied for eighth in the AL.
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Ohtani the pitcher’s 3.4 WAR ranks eighth in the AL. And his 7.8 WAR is unparalleled in baseball.