Ohtani gets special award from MLB for 2-way All-Star season

Good for him.

Hope it isn't a consolation prize for MVP.

MVP is decided by a group of writers (Baseball Writers Assoc.), not MLB.

I would be shocked if he didn't win the MVP in a landslide. Guerrero had a great year, but its pretty much impossible for anyone to compete with a guy who is putting up MVP type numbers at the plate AND putting up numbers on the mound that, if he had a few more appearances, would have made him a serious Cy Young contender too.

If he doesn't also get MVP, they should never give the award again. It isn't really that close.

This seems to be more special than MVP. It isn't given out every year, and is meant for only someone who does something truly amazing.

Extremely fun watching Ohtani-san play this past year. Too bad he’s on the Angels.

In 23 starts on the mound, he was 9-2

Help a baseball newbie out - that means 9 wins 2 losses right, so the other 12 starts ended in draws?

fxgai, it’s called a no decision.

Ohtani is also a finalist for another award, the Silver Slugger Award, which is the best offensive player for each position. In Ohtani’s case, the best DH.

“I think the biggest thing I could take from this season was that I was able to finish the season without getting hurt or being on the IL,” he said

Indeed. I am happy he did not get serious injuries.

In 23 starts on the mound, he was 9-2

Help a baseball newbie out - that means 9 wins 2 losses right, so the other 12 starts ended in draws?

In the other 12 games, the Wins and Losses were earned by other pitchers

The starting pitcher doesn't always earn the win or the loss in a game, for various circumstances. When that happens, the starting pitcher instead gets a "No Decision" as mentioned earlier (neither a win nor a loss)

Help a baseball newbie out - that means 9 wins 2 losses right, so the other 12 starts ended in draws?

There are no draws in MLB.

In every game one pitcher on each team has to get credited with a win or loss, but its not always the starting pitcher.

So for example in a game where Ohtani pitched seven innings and was replaced with a relief pitcher after that while his team was winning and that relief pitcher then gave up a bunch of runs and blew the game, the relief pitcher would get tagged with the loss and Ohtani wouldn’t get a decision despite having started the game. The reverse can also happen.

Random, lostrune, rainyday, thanks all!

His MVP IS A LOCK.

I sure hope he gets MVP. Would love to see him join Ruth with a 20 win season sometime in the near future.

I don't know how long he can keep it up (already had surgery on the elbow, and most J-players are DL for half their contract or more before being sent back), but he definitely deserves the award for what he's done this year. It's rare enough to find a player that can hit AND pitch. Rarer still to find one that can do both well. And even rarer than that to find a player that excels in both. Well done.