Shohei Ohtani beat out Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves for his third Silver Slugger Award, and first with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League after collecting two with the Los Angeles Angels in the American League.
Ohtani was one of six Dodgers nominated to be a finalist for the Silver Slugger Award, with the other five being Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Will Smith, and Mookie Betts, and a team honor.
Ohtani put on an offensive performance never before seen, becoming the first member of the 50/50 club after setting career highs in home runs and stolen bases with 54 and 59, respectively. He was not only the second-best base stealer in the Majors behind Elly De La Cruz, but Ohtani was extremely efficient as well after only being caught stealing four times.
Overall, it was the best offensive season of Ohtani’s career and there are a lot of contributing factors that went into this result. First and most importantly is Ohtani himself and the talent he possesses. His numbers have been on a steady upward trajectory since he won his first Silver Slugger in 2021 as he continues to get better with each passing season.
Ohtani’s 159 regular season games played in 2024 were the most of his career and contributed to the highest plate appearance total of his career.
He also was batting leadoff for a large portion of the season, but perhaps the biggest reason he stepped into the batter’s box so often was having complementary pieces around him after years of being a part of an Angels offense without any real difference makers outside of a healthy Mike Trout.
Ohtani set career highs in just about every single offensive category, with the exception of coming in slightly below his 2023 totals for on-base percentage and slugging percentage, but that is explained by having 139 more at-bats in 2024.
Shohei Ohtani finalist for NL MVP Award
On Monday, Ohtani was named as a finalist for the NL MVP Award in his first season with the Dodgers.
If he wins, Ohtani will win the third MVP of his career.
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