Shohei Ohtani added more hardware to his collection as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar was honored at the 2026 ESPY Awards in New York.
Ohtani was nominated in three categories and took home the honors in two. In addition, the Los Angeles Dodgers were nominated for the Best Team award, but that distinction went to the New York Knicks for winning the NBA championship.
Shohei Ohtani wins at ESPY Awards
Ohtani was named the Best MLB Player at the ESPY Awards for the sixth consecutive season. He beat out Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ohtani hit .282/.392/.622 with 55 home runs, 146 runs scored, 102 RBI and 20 stolen bases with a 172 wRC+ last season. He also returned to the mound after right elbow surgery and threw 47 innings with a 2.87 ERA, 1.90 FIP, 11.87 strikeouts per nine and 1.72 walks per nine.
In addition, Ohtani was also recognized by winning the Best Single-Game Performance award for playing what many consider to be the greatest performance by a player in sports history.
That came on Oct. 17, 2025, in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, when Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings and struck out 10 Milwaukee Brewers, while also hitting three home runs and drawing a walk to send the Dodgers to the World Series.
With that, Ohtani became the first player ever to hit three home runs and turn in a scoreless start with a minimum of 10 strikeouts in either the regular season or postseason.
To be honored as the Best Single-Game Performance recipient, Ohtani beat out the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo, Baylor Baseball’s Tyce Armstrong, and Notre Dame Basketball’s Hanna Hidalgo.
Adebayo scored 83 points for the Heat, setting the second-highest single-game scoring total in NBA History; Armstrong hit three grand slams in a single game, tying a record set 50 years ago; and Hidalgo broke the NCAA record for most steals in a game with 16.
Ohtani falls short in one category
Ohtani was also nominated as the Best Athlete for Men’s Sports, but he came up short with Jalen Brunson of the Knicks taking home the honor.
Ohtani was a finalist for the award in 2022, 2024 and 2025 as well, and took the honor in 2022.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was given the honor in 2025, while Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes won it the year before.
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